%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1324216013021176800%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.%%[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xBookOneBordered1280x1024-2_3125.jpg]][[caption-width-right:300:Admit it. Your childhood was like this at some point.]]

What happens when you take the unpredictable panel layouts and [[MindScrew surreal nature]] of Creator/GeorgeHerriman's ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat'' and Creator/WinsorMcCay's ''ComicStrip/LittleNemo'', the childhood fantasy elements of Creator/CrockettJohnson's ''ComicStrip/{{Barnaby}}'', the lush art, [[CastOfSnowflakes distinct characterizations]] and [[{{Satire}} biting satire]] of Creator/WaltKelly's ''ComicStrip/{{Pogo}}'' and the [[SliceOfLife gently comedic]] look at the [[LifeIsntFair hard truths of life]] from Creator/CharlesMSchulz's ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', throw in a dash of [[TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation classic cartoon]] [[ZanyCartoon slapstick]] [[XMeetsY and fuse them all together into one comic]]?

You get one of the most (maybe ''the'' most) beloved NewspaperComics of all time, that influenced, changed and thrilled an entire generation, all drawn and written by one man -- Creator/BillWatterson. It came at a time when the comics medium needed it the most; almost everyone before Watterson attempted to [[FollowTheLeader copy the success]] of ''Peanuts'' by imitating the deceptively simple style and focusing on the FunnyAnimal[=s=] like Snoopy that would [[CashCowFranchise bring in the money]]. Unfortunately, comic creators [[ShallowParody missed the mark on the aspects of Schulz's strip that actually should have been followed]], mainly the philosophical themes and the down-to-earthiness. As a result, comics once again became gag-a-day strips rather than an artistic medium, and there was a shift from children characters to teenagers and adults.

Watterson reminded us that newspaper comics don't have to be bland, crude drawings, FunnyAnimal[=s=] can have deeper personalities and insights in life, and that it ''was'' still possible for a strip to successfully explore philosophical themes without feeling tacked on. And yes, comics about children can still be great. It was so successful that even Charles M. Schulz gave his approval in a foreword to one of the book collections.

Calvin is a bratty, precocious six-year-old who lives in a slightly different, more exciting reality than everybody around him, full of alien visitors, dinosaurs, {{a|rsonMurderAndJaywalking}}nd [[StockYuck parental cooking]] so awful that occasionally ''it'' tries to eat ''[[RussianReversal him]]''. Hobbes is his best friend: to Calvin, he's a walking, [[TalkingAnimal talking]] tiger, but to everyone else he's just an inanimate plush toy.

As if Calvin's life wasn't exciting enough, he also often imagines himself to be someone more glamorous, like [[SpaceOpera sci-fi adventurer]] Spaceman Spiff, [[FilmNoir world-weary]] [[PrivateDetective private eye]] Tracer Bullet, SuperHero Stupendous Man, or a [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Tyrannosaurus Rex]]. Calvin's non-dinosaur-and-alien-related moments are often much more philosophical than a six-year-old generally appears, and Watterson directly acknowledges this in several anthologies and interviews. To Watterson, Calvin is a tool to subtly mock the modern age in its myriad forms -- Calvin creates snowmen that resemble pretentious postmodern art sculptures, rails against the modern world's hyper-commercialized state while indulging in it like the worst six-year-old, and occasionally questions the justification for humanity's continuing existence while gazing at a piece of trash carelessly discarded in the woods.

The strip was known for being fun to look at, due to Watterson's sheer artistic skill; for its ability to tell stories [[NoDialogueEpisode without dialogue]]; and for its varied and creative SundayStrip layout. This in itself was a major controversy, as Watterson requested a fixed amount of square footage for his Sundays (as opposed to funny-page standards, which requires the cartoonist to fit the story into six or eight pre-sized panels that can be [[EditedForSyndication cut apart, reassembled or discarded]] as each individual newspaper sees fit.) Watterson argued that, since comic strips are a visual medium, it would be in everyone's best interests for him to have complete visual control over his work, regardless of resulting upheavals in comics-page layouts. He won, and similar fixed-layout concessions have gone out to comics such as ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' and ''ComicStrip/OverTheHedge'' in following years.

Watterson consistently refused to license his characters for products or media other than the various compilations of the strip and even had a brutal fight with his syndicate over it. Though he won, this led to a booming market in unofficial merchandise, one of the more ubiquitous being window stickers of Calvin urinating on the logos of various American car manufacturers. At one point in time he considered an [[AnimatedAdaptation animated TV series]] featuring the characters, expressing a fondness for the medium, though this never came to fruition. [[note]]One of the main reasons being that by giving the characters voices, Watterson felt he would be robbing long-time readers of what the characters sounded like to them.[[/note]]

''Calvin and Hobbes'' ran from November 18, 1985 to December 31, 1995, at which point Watterson retired for fear of the [[JumpingTheShark strip going stale]]. No new material has been released since then and Watterson, who changed careers from cartooning to oil painting, has become a notorious media recluse in the intervening years. In early 2011, he mailed an oil painting of a character from ''ComicStrip/CulDeSac'' to his syndicate as a donation for the Team Cul de Sac Parkinson's Research charity. This was the first piece of new art his syndicate had received from him in 16 years. Two years later, he produced a poster for the film ''Film/{{Stripped}}'', a documentary on the history of newspaper comics. A year after that, he collaborated with Creator/StephenPastis for three ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' strips.

A documentary on the comic, called ''[[http://tinyurl.com/m4qnlzu Dear Mr. Watterson]]'', was released on Nov 13, 2013. It features interviews with cartoonists such as [[ComicStrip/FoxTrot Bill Amend]] and [[ComicStrip/BloomCounty Berkeley Breathed]], and explores the impact of ''Calvin and Hobbes''. [[http://tinyurl.com/kowoakk A Biopic about Bill Watterson is currently in development by Warner Bros]].----

!!Provides Examples of:

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[[folder:A-B]]* AbortedArc: Watterson once wanted to run a whole month's worth of strips involving Calvin getting stuck on the ceiling due to his gravity polarity being reversed, and then growing larger and larger (to the point of the universe being the size of a hula-hoop, when proportionately compared) to see how the fans would react. Watterson feared the backlash and quickly pulled out, however. [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1989/11/13 Here is the arc]].** Unlike some aborted arcs though, this one actually got a conclusion. He just didn't let it run as long as he originally planned.* AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal: Hobbes tends to wear scarves during winter... and nothing else.* ActionInsuranceGag: Several Spaceman Spiff strips have Spiff complaining that he just paid off/washed and waxed his spaceship as it goes down in flames, or regretting not taking a better insurance policy.* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Once Calvin combed his hair, put on his dad's glasses and said "Calvin, go do something you hate. Being miserable builds character." Dad was not amused, but Mom laughed so hard she slid out of the chair she was sitting in, ending up on the floor.* ADayInTheLimelight: A few strips are shown from the perspective of Susie or Calvin's parents, even to the point of them [[NoFourthWall addressing the page]]. Usually this happens in the middle of a longer arc in which Calvin is up to some mischief, and gives a counterpoint to his view on things.* AdjacentToThisCompleteBreakfast:** Calvin's favorite cereal qualifies as this. With a name like Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs it'd have to be.** Lampshaded in the strip:-->'''Calvin:''' Look, it says right here "Part of a wholesome, nutritious, balanced breakfast."-->'''Hobbes:''' Yeah, and they show a guy eating five grapefruits, a dozen bran muffins...* AdultFear:** One arc had the family return home after a trip to find that their house had been broken into. Calvin, being six years old, is concerned only about Hobbes, and rushes into the house to find him. His parents, however, are notably shaken, and remain so for the rest of the arc. Calvin's dad in particular has to come to terms with the fact that being a parent doesn't automatically make you some invincible figure as he imagined his father was when he grew up. It's a question of hiding all those fears behind a brave face for the sake of one's family, which he learns to do.** There was also the time Calvin got lost on a trip to the zoo. His dad guessed correctly that he was still at the tiger pit, but wound up running all the way there when the (not wholly unreasonable) thought entered his head that Calvin might be trying to get ''into'' the tiger pit.** There's also a sense of this in the story where Calvin accidentally pushes the car into a ditch. He runs away, but when found is surprised to find his parents were more worried about what happened to him than about the car (which, luckily, wasn't damaged.)** For readers who are parents, pretty much any of Calvin's hijinks can be this. Just look at the number of wagon/toboggan rides that have ended up with Calvin ramping off a cliff.* AdultsAreUseless: Averted in most cases. Played straight, however, in the arc when Calvin joins the school baseball team.* AerialCanyonChase: One strip parodies this concept as Calvin imagining his mother as the alien battleship.* AFoolForAClient: Referenced in one strip: after Calvin nearly hits Susie with a snowball, he defends himself by saying "''I'' didn't do it! You can't prove it. [[AccidentalPublicConfession Besides, I missed, didn't I?]]" Cut to Calvin face down in the snow after Susie clobbers him with the tagline "The defendant petitions the court for a new trial on the grounds that his lawyer is incompetent" (with Calvin, of course, having been his own "lawyer.")* AfraidOfNeedles: When Calvin acts up at the doctor's office, it's usually because he wants to keep the doctor from giving him a shot. Although his behavior is way over the top, this is nonetheless realistic because many children Calvin's age are frightened of needles.* AgainstMyReligion: Calvin tries this when asked to ''add two to seven''.* AgelessBirthdayEpisode: There was an arc were Susie invites Calvin to her birthday party. Her age isn't mentioned, but they all appear to be perpetually 6.* AgentScully: Hobbes.* AIIsACrapshoot: The Snow Goon arc.-->'''Hobbes:''' You brought a snowman to ''life?!''-->'''Calvin:''' I didn't think he'd be evil!* AliensAndMonsters: Calvin's vivid imagination and Bill Watterson's skills combine to create [[StarfishAliens some really weird creatures]], sometimes getting rather scary.* AlienSky: Frequently seen in Calvin's imaginary worlds. Watterson would eventually claim that, ultimately, print was an insufficient medium to capture the sheer scope of Calvin's imagination. Alas.** Which is saying something, [[HeroicSelfDeprecation given how incredibly well he usually seemed to capture it]].* AltText: Odd for a printed comic but the anthologies usually contain alt text from Watterson.* AmbiguousDisorder: Calvin is [[WiseBeyondTheirYears wise beyond his years]] and [[MrImagination incredibly imaginative]] despite [[BookDumb getting terrible grades]], has no (human) friends and prefers animals to people, has many strange {{Cloudcuckoolander}} quirks, can be a stickler for his own personal schedules, and doesn't understand why people behave the way they do.* AmusingInjuries: Whenever he's tackled by Hobbes, Calvin typically ends up scratched and bruised, but never seriously hurt. The same when he falls off a cliff at the end of a wagonning or sledding sojourn.* AndTheAdventureContinues: "It's a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy... Let's go exploring!"* {{Angrish}}: "Slippin'-rippin'-dang-fang-rotten-zarg-barg-a-ding-dong!" The eloquent phrase screamed by Calvin's dad when he drops a huge Christmas present onto his foot.* AnimeHair: Calvin is a rare Western, non-{{Animesque}} example.** A literal example happens when Calvin styles his hair with Crisco and ends up looking like Manga/AstroBoy.** Lampshaded on another occasion when Hobbes asks how Calvin gets his hair to look like that, assuming it to be static electricity. He doesn't get an answer.* {{Animorphism}}: Using the transmogrifier, Calvin has turned himself into a variety of things, including a tiger and a pterodactyl.** "I'll just point it at myself and transmogrify! [[ExactWords I'm safe!]]" *ZAP!* (He's a safe.)* TheAnnotatedEdition: The tenth anniversary best-of book has notes from Watterson, many of which go into more detail on his assorted AuthorTract[=s=] or give artistic insight.* AnnoyingPatient: Calvin, playing Spaceman Spiff in the doctor's office.* AnthropicPrinciple: Calvin notices that his existence depends on everything that came before him, and deduces that the ultimate purpose of history must be to produce [[ItsAllAboutMe himself]]. Armed with this grandiose and self-affirming philosophy, he goes and watches TV.* AnthropomorphicFood: Calvin occasionally ''fights'' with his parents' cooking. To be fair, a lot of their cooking is piles of greenish goo.* {{Anvilicious}}: In-universe, Calvin's story "The Dad Who Lived to Regret Being Mean to His Kid," which he makes his father read to him.-->'''Calvin:''' You know how a lot of stories have morals to them?-->'''Calvin's Dad:''' I ''GET'' IT, I ''GET'' IT!** Another in-universe example is when Dad says he's too busy to read Calvin a bedtime story and Calvin yells that he won't go to bed without one:-->'''Dad:''' Once upon a time there was a boy named Calvin, who always wanted things his way. One day his dad got sick of it and locked him in the basement for the rest of his life. Everyone else lived happily ever after. The end.-->'''Calvin:''' I don't like these stories with morals.* APlanetNamedZok: Several of the planets Spiff crash-landed on followed this structure.* ArchEnemy: Rosalyn the babysitter, whom Watterson says is the only person on Earth Calvin fears.* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking:-->'''Calvin:''' Mom, can I set fire to my bed mattress?-->'''Mom:''' No, Calvin.-->'''Calvin:''' Can I ride my tricycle on the roof?-->'''Mom:''' No, Calvin.-->'''Calvin:''' Then can I have a cookie?-->'''Mom:''' No, Calvin.-->'''Calvin:''' ''(thinking)'' She's on to me.** Another:-->'''Calvin:''' I'm going to be a radical terrorist when I grow up.-->'''Mom:''' Mmm-hmm.-->'''Calvin:''' I'm going to inhale this can of pesticide.-->'''Mom:''' Mmm-hmm.-->'''Calvin:''' I'm going to watch TV all night.-->'''Mom:''' That's what you think, Buster!-->'''Calvin:''' You never can tell if they're listening or not.** Another example of this, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick reversed]], is:-->'''Calvin:''' Mom, what time is it?-->'''Mom:''' Go check the clock and see.-->'''Calvin:''' Mom, what's the temperature outside?-->'''Mom:''' Go read the thermometer and see.-->'''Calvin:''' Mom, how fast can the car go?-->'''Mom:''' Go... Nice try.** A minor version in the beginning of a Spaceman Spiff fantasy, Spiff is doing routine checks on his ship before taking off:-->Altitude-o-tron... check. Gamma beam macerator... check. Windshield defogger... check.* ArtEvolution: Acknowledged by Watterson in the 10th anniversary book, where he claims that sometime into the strip's second or third year, he intentionally made the art a little more cartoony and removed the pads from Hobbes' paws because they were "distracting."** It was in 1986 (the strip's second year) that the character designs began to settle in. Compare Calvin and Hobbes in [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/01/08 January]] and [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/12/11 December]].** The most drastic change over the strip's lifetime is in the increased realism Watterson put into drawings of animals, especially dinosaurs, feeling they helped convey the power of Calvin's imagination.* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: Readily apparent in early strips where dinosaurs are concerned, which Watterson admits to drawing based on information he remembered from the '60s. After getting caught up on modern palaeontology he was able to draw them much more accurately.* ArtShift: The usual simplistic style was occasionally replaced by a more detailed and realistic style for comedic effect. For example, this was used to create a Soap Opera strip atmosphere (imitating comics like ''ComicStrip/MaryWorth'' or ''ComicStrip/Apartment3G''.)** LiteralMinded: One Sunday strip was inked only in black and white with no in-between, one drawn with a lack of perspective. Both were lampshaded.** Watterson even comments that the [[RealityIsUnrealistic real world is drawn cartoony]] while Calvin's fantasies are realistic, highlighting his perspective.* AsideGlance: Used frequently, mostly from Calvin. Other characters, such as Susie and Miss Wormwood, occasionally give them in response to Calvin's latest shenanigans.** AsideComment: It's more rare for them to address the audience, but this is seen for example in one instance where Calvin and Hobbes begin a G.R.O.S.S. meeting with a recitation; Calvin then turns to the fourth wall and says, "You can tell this is a great club by the way we start our meetings!"* AssimilationAcademy: Calvin sees his school as one.* AttackBackfire: When Calvin and Hobbes fought the first [[{{Snowlems}} Snow Goon]], they tried throwing snowballs at it. Not only was it completely ineffective, but it gave the goon the idea to pack more snow onto itself to grow bigger.* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: A recurring theme.** One strip has Calvin imagining he drinks a magic elixir and grows to over 300 feet. He proceeds to rampage through an imaginary town. His mom is not amused when Calvin asks for replacements for the toy cars that were lost in the rampage.** He also built several castles in his sandbox and said they were downtown Tokyo. Then he stomped across them with a growl and said he was Franchise/{{Godzilla}}.** One winter day, he built about fifty tiny, foot-tall snowmen... at the base of a hill... and then went up the hill with his toboggan.-->'''Calvin:''' For the townsfolk below, the day began like any other day...** And, of course, the many strips involving a rampaging carnosaur qualify.** In one of Calvin's Imagine Spots, he becomes "the size of a bug ''to'' a bug" and a giant bug starts trying to step on him. The trope is then inverted when a giant frog saves his life by catching and eating the bug.* AuthorAvatar: Calvin, Hobbes and Calvin's father (who is physically based partly on Watterson himself) all serve as Watterson's voice on different issues. More rarely, Susie, Miss Wormwood and Calvin's mother occasionally highlighted other issues, often in the context of a larger story. Susie especially is based, personality-wise, on Watterson's wife.* AuthorFilibuster: Shows up in quite a few strips, usually dealing with some issue Watterson had with corporate policy getting in the way of art, or how modern society couldn't appreciate nature or the power of the imagination.* AwesomeButImpractical: After Calvin "invents" the Transmogrifier Gun, Hobbes questions the usefulness of a "handheld iguana maker."* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: No matter how often Calvin and Hobbes might be [[VitriolicBestBuds at each others' throats]], or how often Calvin and his parents drive each other crazy, they all really do love each other, and there numerous strips that confirm this.** There's a Valentine's Day strip which seems to imply that, despite the apparent tension and hatred between the two, Calvin and Susie seem to really care about one another.* BabysittingEpisode: Periodically, Calvin would be babysat by Rosalyn, whom Calvin fears very greatly.* BadLiar: Due to his tendency to live in his own reality, he can't make a convincing lie to save his life.-->'''Dad:''' LOOK AT THIS BATHROOM! WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU DOING!?-->'''Calvin:''' Nothing, Dad! I was just in here looking for some dental floss, when PLOOIE! The faucet handle blows sky high all by itself! It... it... uh... (points to Hobbes) What I mean is Hobbes was fooling around with your tools. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen. And sure enough, he went and... and...-->'''Dad:''' ''(not fooled in the slightest)'' One more try.-->'''Calvin:''' ALIENS, DAD! Big, evil, bug-eyed monsters from Pluto! They did it, and made me swear not to tell!** Another example.-->'''Mom:''' WHO MADE THIS MESS OUT HERE!? ''(glares at Calvin)''-->'''Calvin:''' It wasn't me, Mom! It was... uh... it was... it was a horrible little Venusian who materialized in the kitchen! He pulled out this diabolical high-frequency device, pointed it at various objects and... -->''(cut to Calvin in his room)'' -->'''Calvin:''' Mothers are the necessity of invention.** Calvin once hit Hobbes with a pillow that tore open and left feathers all over the room. When Dad asked him about the mess, he said that a herd of ducks flew in the window and molted. Dad's response was to say Calvin couldn't have dessert for a week.* BadMoodAsAnExcuse: Calvin sometimes uses this attitude.-->'''Calvin''': Boy, I'm in a bad mood today! Everyone had better steer clear of me! I hate ''everybody!'' As far as I'm concerned, everyone on the planet can just drop dead. People are scum. ''({{Beat}})'' '''WELL-L-L-L? Doesn't anyone want to cheer me up?'''* {{Balloonacy}}:** A story arc had Calvin be lifted into the stratosphere by a helium balloon.** Completely averted in an earlier strip, he jumps off a stepladder while holding a balloon, and promptly lands splat on his face causing the balloon to float away. The former example may have been Calvin imagining, however.* {{Bambification}}: ''Brutally'' parodied in a strip where a pack of rifle-toting deer [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath shoot a cubicle worker]].-->'''Calvin:''' ''[Reading his creative writing assignment to the class]'' Needless to say, Frank's family was upset when he didn't come home that night. But everybody understood that the human population had doubled in just two generations to almost six billion, so some thinning of the herds was necessary to prevent starvation. ''(This parodies a common, and accurate, justification for deer hunting.)''-->''(Next Panel)''-->'''Calvin's Mom:''' Another parent teacher conference.-->'''Calvin's Dad:''' Your turn.* BangingPotsAndPans: Calvin does it in one strip to rile up his mother. When she yells at him to stop, he makes a check mark on a calendar and says, "...and a check mark for Tuesday!"** Another time, Calvin says that he can't do any fun outdoor activities when it's raining, so "the only sport is driving Mom crazy." Then he picks up a pot and a wooden spoon.* BatmanGambit: [[http://assets.amuniversal.com/d52fdf68250b102d94d7001438c0f03b Susie pulls one off against Calvin]] during a story arc in which Calvin steals Susie's "Binky Betsy" doll and holds it for ransom, demanding $100 for her return (via an "anonymous" note signed [[WhatAnIdiot "Sincerely, Calvin."]]) Susie puts an envelope by "the tree out front," as she was instructed to do, but hides behind the tree, out of Calvin's line of sight. Calvin sees the envelope and is overjoyed, thinking she caved and coughed up the money. However, just as Susie had planned, Calvin takes his eyes off of Hobbes for a few seconds to check the envelope, inside of which is no money, but a note that reads "Now we're even." Calvin is confused and has no idea what that means... until he turns to see [[{{Revenge}} Susie running off with Hobbes, whom SHE holds for ransom]].** Susie even comes out ahead, because in the ensuing [[PrisonerExchange toy exchange]], Susie gets both "Binky Betsy" ''and'' a quarter in exchange for Hobbes.* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Bill Watterson experienced this trope once he was allowed to design his own formats for the Sunday strips. It turned out to be rather difficult, especially since the strip had to provide a logical path for the reader's eye. Watterson noted that Sunday strips with the new format took two or three times longer to draw than strips with the old format.* BedsheetLadder: One strip had Calvin use one of these to sneak out of the house and phone his dad saying that it was three in the morning and asking whether he knew where Calvin was now.* BedtimeBrainwashing: Calvin does this to Hobbes with the use of a cookie.* BehindAStick* BehindTheBlack: When Calvin cajoles Hobbes into helping him push the car out of the garage and onto the driveway, the car starts sliding backwards, even though according to ''every single panel,'' the ground is completely horizontal. Hobbes even says, "[[LampshadeHanging The driveway must be slanted downhill!]]"** This is TruthInTelevision; a subtle grade that people don't really notice can still be enough to cause an improperly braked car to roll.* BelligerentSexualTension: Calvin and Susie, as much as their ages allow.* BerserkButton: Calvin may never live down the Noodle Incident (or possibly [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation was innocent for a change and cannot prove it]]; even ''Santa'' isn't sure what exactly happened), and ''hates'' it when Hobbes teases him about it. He also doesn't like being reminded about his height (see TheNapoleon below). He also explodes whenever Hobbes suggests that he likes Susie, and when his good duplicate starts sending Susie mash notes.-->'''Hobbes:''' Why do you wear long pants in the summer? Don't you get hot?-->BeatPanel as Calvin fumes.-->'''Hobbes:''' (Bewildered) What? What did I say?-->'''Calvin:''' (Furiously pointing down) Short pants touch my ''feet'', okay?!** This trope also applies to the creator of the comic strip. Let's just say that Bill Watterson ''really'' does not like other people making money off of his creation.* BewareTheNiceOnes: Susie Derkins. Don't hit her with a snowball or water balloon, or you'll be beaten up like Calvin.* BigBallOfViolence: Calvin and Hobbes' fights.* BigNo: In one strip, Calvin's dad says that he has just fixed up Calvin's bicycle, and asks if he wants to learn how to ride it. Cue Calvin shouting "NO-O-O-O-O-O!!" in letters so big that they take up nearly half of a double-width panel.* BlackBeadEyes: The normal state of the characters' eyes, although they can turn into normal eyes when a particular expression calls for them.* BlackComedy: The infamous strip in which three deer hunt humans in an office building. Just think about it for a second: A man is shot to death for laughs in a comic that ran in the ''Sunday papers''. Yes, it was gore-free and meant to be satirical, but still, Watterson was pushing the envelope as far as it could go with that one.** In addition, many of Calvin's snowman creations reveal a rather macabre sense of humor.** "Oh yeah? Define 'well adjusted!'" Said in defense of a snow sculpture depicting a snowman beheaded by a giant, cackling chicken.** Another snowman one. A snowman eating a snow cone... followed by another snowman with an ice cream scoop in his back.-->'''Calvin''': It's a sordid story.** Perhaps Calvin's most disturbing snow tableau comprises a group of snowman gathered around his dad's parked car wearing expressions of anguish, while another snowman lies prostrate on the floor. Calvin's Dad's only comment: ''We gotta get that kid to a psychiatrist.''** Perhaps the most disturbing strip of all time has Calvin [[AGodAmI imagining himself as a god]] and [[DisproportionateRetribution casting the entire human race into Hell simply because they "displease him."]] We then cut to what Calvin is actually doing -- playing with his Tinkertoys -- and [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant the proud, unwitting smiles on the faces of Calvin's parents]] make the strip even creepier.* BlankBook: Invoked in one of Calvin's wild stories to avoid an assignment.* BlatantLies: Calvin, dressed as a Native American and carrying a toy bow, is confronted by an angry Susie who shows him a sucker-top arrow and demands to know if he shot it at her. His reply: "No. What is it?"* BodyHorror:** In one strip, Calvin has a vision of inflating to unbelievably massive proportions [[MundaneMadeAwesome from eating too much dinner]].** In response to a bubble of gum that popped and covered his entire head: "Good heavens! I think I blew my face inside out!"** PlayedForLaughs when Calvin pours the school cafeteria's manicotti down his shirt. He then walks over to Susie, lifts his shirt (spilling the manicotti), and screaming "AAAGH MY INTESTINES ARE SPILLING OUT!" Susie screams and runs away.* BookDumb: Calvin even uses the "[[UrbanLegend Einstein had horrible grades]]" defense, bragging that his "are even worse!"* ABoyAndHisX: The main characters are Calvin the boy and Hobbes, his stuffed tiger [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane that is either alive or just an]] ImaginaryFriend.* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: Calvin at first wanted to collect bugs. Then he wanted to collect stamps. He decides on stamped bugs.* BrilliantButLazy: Calvin, who generally refuses to put effort in to school work, but displays a very advanced vocabulary, has considerable artistic skills and has thoughts of those who are much older than six.** He once explained himself to his father, however, when asked why he didn't do well in school despite being ''fantastically'' good at inhaling information about things he was interested in, such as dinosaurs. The answer? ''"We don't learn about dinosaurs."''** Another strip had our heroes finding a garter snake and then asking questions about snakes. Hobbes suggests that they get Calvin's Mom to get them a book from the library, but Calvin protests that he doesn't want to learn anything because it's summertime. Hobbes replies that "if no one makes you do it, it counts as fun," and with that revelation Calvin genuinely enjoys himself.** {{Lampshaded}} by Mrs. Wormwood. "Calvin, if you put half the energy of your protests into your schoolwork..."* BrokenTreasure: The broken binoculars arc.* ByronicHero: Poor integrity? Check. Lack of respect for authority? Check? Self-exile? Inasmuch as one can do so in suburbia, check. Cynicism? Check. Unspecified past crime? NoodleIncident. A rare instance, however, where his self-entitlement is played for laughs, rather than drama.* ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: The monsters under Calvin's bed in ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' usually are only heard and not seen, but in a few strips their eyes were visible this way.** Hobbes occasionally has his eyes glow in the dark when hunting Calvin, crossing this over with GlowingEyesOfDoom.* [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace Calvin Can Breathe in Space]]:** If we take the "[[SneezeOfDoom sneezed himself into the atmosphere]]" strip at face value.** The strip where he kept growing and growing until he outgrew the entire galaxy.** In ''Weirdos from Another Planet'', Calvin and Hobbes use the wagon to travel to Mars, land, and then come back, and never even bat an eyelash at the inability to breathe in space, nor in Mars' thin, carbon dioxide filled atmosphere.[[/folder]]

[[folder:C-D]]* {{Calvinball}}: The trope namer. The only two rules: never have the same rules twice, and no one's allowed to question the masks.* CannotTellAJoke: Calvin.-->'''Calvin''': OK, this guy goes into a bar. No wait, he doesn't do that yet. Or maybe it's a grocery store. OK, it doesn't matter. Let's say it's a bar. He's somewhere in the vicinity of a bar, right? So anyway, there's this dog, and he says something odd, I don't remember, but this other guy says, um, well, I forget, but it was funny.-->'''Hobbes''': I'll try to imagine it.-->'''Calvin''': Yeah, you'll really laugh.* [[BambooTechnology Cardboard Box Technology]]: Calvin used his box as the Transmogrifier (when upside down), Duplicator (when on its side) ''and'' a time machine (when right side up.)** With reverential spoofs appearing from time to time in the years that have followed.* CassandraTruth: One of the subtler RunningGag[=s=] in the series is Hobbes trying to warn Calvin against whatever it is he's currently planning. Unfortunately, whether Calvin is trying to fix the leak in the bathroom faucet, pushing his parents' car out of the garage or duplicating himself to get out of cleaning his room, Calvin never listens and HilarityEnsues.** Some of the SilenceIsGolden Sunday strips use this too. Something happens to Calvin that apparently makes him do something bad (he gets kidnapped by aliens and a robot duplicate cause trouble, his dad's leaf pile attacks him, a gust of wind pulls him back into bed after he was told to get up) and his parents refuse to believe him when he tells them what happened.* {{Catchphrase}}: "[Something that Calvin hates] builds character!" from Calvin's dad. Calvin copied this to mock his father, in combination with his glasses and hairstyle. The last panel is Calvin's Mom laughing uncontrollably in a chair and Dad trying to play it off.** Bill Watterson has said that Calvin's dad is [[WriteWhoYouKnow based on his father]], especially that phrase. Although visually he's based on Bill himself, minus the moustache.* CatsAreMean: Inverted with Hobbes, who is overall much kinder and more moral than Calvin, and [[WhatTheHellHero calls Calvin out on various misdeeds]].** Hobbes ''does'' have a few moments of this, though. He constantly beats Calvin up for no reason.* CatsAreSnarkers: Hobbes the tiger (whom [[WordOfGod according to Watterson]] is based on a gray tabby cat Watterson owned) is arguably the snarkiest character in the comic. [[WorldOfSnark And that's saying a lot]].* CaughtInASnare: Hobbes in the very first strip.* ChekhovsGun: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in a strip where Calvin finds his Transmogrifier gun during a mile-high plunge at the tail end of the Balloonacy arc. As Calvin himself puts it, "Boy, these things come in handy all the time!"* TheChewToy: Calvin. Moe, Susie, and Hobbes are always beating him up, even when he does nothing to deserve it. Although, Susie hardly ever attacks Calvin unless provoked, so in Susie's case he almost always deserves it. In stark contrast, Moe beats up Calvin almost always when he has done nothing. Hobbes tackles him at the end of every school day when he walks through the door, and while he's usually the voice of reason he can sometimes be as big a {{jerkass}} as Calvin ''to'' Calvin, and get away with it because he's bigger and has claws.* ChristmasCreep: Calvin deliberately tries to spread Christmas Creep in one strip. He sings "Silver Bells" at the top of his lungs in mid-November. His parents respond by forcing him outside. Calvin shoots back, "Not thinking about it won't make it go away, you know!"* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Calvin.* ClingyCostume: Calvin comes home from school and tells Mom he got stuck in his snow pants. He couldn't get them unzipped because the zipper was covered in ice, then he tried to force open the zipper and got a mitten jammed in it, then he tried to pull his pants off, but he had forgotten to take off his boots, so they got stuck as well, then the pants got all twisted and he fell down. It took the teacher and two custodians to get him out. Since Calvin lives to create mischief, he finishes this story by enthusiastically saying that he'll be sure to wear the pants again tomorrow.* ColonyDrop: Imaginary version during one of Calvin's daydreams. Spaceman Spiff uses his FlyingSaucer's grappling hook to drag one uninhabited planet into another "ForScience!" (He's trying to add 5+6, ItMakesSenseInContext.)* CometOfDoom: Calvin tells Hobbes that the world will be ending soon because Halley's Comet is going to appear and comets are harbingers of doom. Hobbes says this is just a superstition, so Calvin decides he'd better write his book report after all.* ComicBookTime: Despite the passage of summer holidays, Christmases, etc., Calvin and his classmates [[NotAllowedToGrowUp never age]]. Lampshaded by Calvin's father at one point:-->''"Yeah, I know, you think you're going to be six all your life."''** This might have actually been the creator trying to tell his readers that someday he ''would'' move on to other interests, as insane as it sounded at the time.** Or that this is what most 6-year-olds think at the time.* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Openly lampshaded in Calvin actively resisting most {{A|nAesop}}esops being handed to him.-->'''Hobbes:''' Live and don't learn, that's us.* CompanionCube: Hobbes, at least as seen by everyone other than Calvin.* CompetitionCouponMadness: Calvin wins a propeller beanie this way.* CompositeCharacter: Calvin's father displays traits of both Bill Watterson's father (saying things "build character," [[HorribleCampingTrip taking his family on miserable camping trips]], jogging in the snow, having a job as a patent attorney) and Watterson himself (the visual appearance, the love of bicycling, the love of the outdoors, the apprehension about consumerist culture and his role in it.)* TheConscience: Hobbes will sometimes serve as one to Calvin. And maybe if Calvin listened a little more, he probably wouldn't get in as much trouble as he does.* CoolButStupid: "Tyrannosaurs in F14's!"-->'''Calvin:''' This is ''so'' cool.-->'''Hobbes:''' This is ''so'' stupid.* CoveredInGunge: A more family-friendly example occurs whenever our heroes have a sledding accident and end up covered in snow.* CreatorThumbprint: Bill Watterson cites [[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} Charles M. Schulz]] as one of his main creative influences, and it shows in his art style. A few of the stylistic twists Schulz used in his strip, such as profile shots of characters that show only their eyes and nose but not their mouths, or the use of the word "AUGH" when uttering a cry of surprise or dismay, were adopted by Watterson and later used in ''Calvin and Hobbes''.* CriticalResearchFailure (InUniverse): Calvin's report on bats, in which he claims that bats are bugs, because they fly and are ugly. Sadly, we never get to see [[NoodleIncident the rest of the report]].-->'''Calvin:''' My report is on bats. --AHEM-- Dusk! With a creepy, tingling sensation, you hear the fluttering of leathery wings! BATS! With glowing red eyes and glistening fangs, these unspeakable giant bugs drop onto---->'''Entire Class: BATS AREN'T BUGS!!!!'''** Apparently some readers didn't realize that this was an in-universe example. Bill Watterson commented in the tenth anniversary book on the ease of writing the story in that he only needed to know as much as "a lazy six-year-old", but after the story ran he "received more information on bats than he ever cared to know."** Also admitted in RealLife regarding dinosaurs: Watterson had been drawing them based on half-remembered books from the 1960's (i.e. as tail-dragging, shambling behemoths) originally, but updated them as [[ScienceMarchesOn science had advanced]].** In another story arc, Calvin believes that the simple machines consist of the lever, the pulley, the inclined plane, and ''[[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers the internal combustion engine]]''.* CrosswordPuzzle:-->'''Calvin''': I'm doing a crossword puzzle. Number three across says "bird."\\'''Hobbes''': Hmm...\\'''Calvin''': I've got it! "Yellow-bellied sapsucker!"\\'''Hobbes''': But there are only five boxes.\\'''Calvin''': I know. These idiots make you write real small.* CueTheRain: A camping trip that no one but Calvin's dad is looking forward to and it starts raining upon arrival. Calvin's dad [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Comically Misses The Point]].-->'''Calvin's dad''': At least it's not snowing! Right? Right? (Later, as they sit in the rain eating cold canned ravioli.) I mean, say it was snowing so hard we couldn't make a fire.** [[spoiler:And it stops raining the ''exact'' moment they decide to leave.]]* CulturalPosturing: Hobbes, when talking about tigers (although it's rather ethnocentrism since tigers are not known to possess any culture at all.)* CuriousAsAMonkey: Calvin. He throws water on his dad to test his dad's reflexes and drops an expensive compass out of a tree to study gravity.* CutAndPasteComic: [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/11/11 This strip]] where Calvin talks about his grandfather complaining that all comics today are just xeroxed talking heads. [[note]]The [[HypocriticalHumor joke]] being that that particular strip is just two poses copied and pasted four times.[[/note]]** In the strip proper, there are minor differences that indicate they were all drawn separately. Watterson was just that good.* CutAndPasteNote: One story arc played it straight by having Hobbes cut up Calvin's Mom's magazines and send Calvin insults in the mail. Another gloriously subverted it:-->'''Susie''': ''(reading)'' Susie, if you want to see your doll again, leave $100 in this envelope by the tree out front. Do not call the police. You cannot trace us. You cannot find us.--> Sincerely, Calvin.* ADayInTheLimelight: Calvin's Dad occasionally got the spotlight and was often used to voice Watterson's concerns about consumerism and the rat race. Calvin's Mom didn't get these as much, although she sometimes went through the frustrations of everyday life, such as poor customer service and long lineups.* DeadpanSnarker: Calvin's dad and Hobbes, though virtually every character has their moments.** Hobbes especially. Calvin's dad doesn't seem to be sarcastic as frequently.-->'''Calvin''': Here's another ad with attitude. This guy didn't like his job, so he quit, and now he climbs rocks! See, he's his own man! He grabs life by the throat and lives on his own terms!-->'''Hobbes''': If he quit his job, I wonder how he affords those expensive athletic shoes he's advertising.-->'''Calvin''': Maybe his mom bought them for him.-->'''Hobbes''': I hope she'll pay his medical bills when he falls off that rock.** Nearly everyone gets some snark now and then. Even a freakin' Ouija Board gets its moment.-->'''Calvin''': Oh, great Ouija Board, will I grow up to be President?-->'''Ouija Board''': G-O-D-F-O-R-B-I-D.-->'''Calvin''': When I want an editorial, I'll ''ask'' for it, you stupid board!!* DeathIsCheap: Calvin and Hobbes drive over and run into trees all the time, yet are shown to be perfectly fine the very next time. Though it's never shown how tall the cliffs are, but it's heavily implied that they're pretty high.** The height of the cliffs could be more to do with Calvin's imagination, and how everything is much bigger when you're small.** Averted when Calvin finds an injured raccoon and tries to nurse it back to health with his mother's help.* DeclarativeFinger: Used frequently by at least Calvin and his dad, and by Hobbes, who provides the page image.* DefaceOfTheMoon: Calvin imagines himself doing this at one point.* DelayedReaction: Finding that his playing cards are not complete, Calvin remarks that he's "not playing with a full deck," to which Hobbes smiles and responds, "That's what everyone says!" Calvin mutters that they should buy a new deck; HOURS later in bed, he sits up in realization and yells, "HEY!" The next day's strip, Calvin mentions that he lost his marbles, to which Hobbes responds, "Everyone suspected as such;" again, Calvin doesn't get it until the middle of the night.* DIYDisaster: Done in two strips: One where Calvin floods the kitchen, the other getting bad enough to where it ''floods the entire house''. The next strip after even makes a ContinuityNod saying Calvin's dad didn't give him dessert because he flooded the house.** There's also a story of Calvin's attempt to fix a dripping faucet in the bathroom.* DoABarrelRoll: He's done it in fantasies involving airplanes. Another time, he walked through the snow to make the message "do a barrel roll" visible to airplanes.* DoItYourselfPlumbingProject: "Check the following list of handy expletives, and see that you know how to use them."** Beautifully done in one arc's strip in which Calvin attempts to fix a leaky faucet, only to break it open. HilarityEnsues.-->'''Calvin:''' "La da dee dee da / I think I'll get a bucket... Dum de doo... / [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Nothing's wrong...]] Da dee doo ba... / I just want a bucket to hold some... stuff. / Ta tum ta tum / Let's see, how many buckets do we have? Dum de doo... / [[BlatantLies No cause for alarm ... No need to panic ...]] / I just want a few buckets. La la."-->'''Calvin's parents:''' (simultaneously) "'''Your''' turn."* DreamWithinADream: Calvin dreams that he walks out of the house, trips over a rock and then finds his yard is several miles in the air, only to wake up, get out of bed, and find that his ''house'' is several miles in the air. He then wakes up for real, except by that point he's too scared to get out of bed.** There's also the Reality Within a Dream, where he's woken up by his mother and gets ready for school and actually GETS OUT THE DOOR before being woken up again. He lampshades this by saying "My dreams are getting way too literal."* DysfunctionalFamily: Calvin's family qualifies as one. Dad gets enjoyment out of mundane activities, Mom is constantly driven to wit's end, and let's not get started on Calvin.[[/folder]]

[[folder:E-F]]* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Calvin started out as a member of a Boy Scouts-esque organization, which was quietly dropped after Watterson had more trouble coming up with material for them than he thought he would. Then he realized Calvin would never have joined such a group in the first place.* EasilyForgiven: In one strip, Calvin steals a doll from Susie while playing G.R.O.S.S. with intent to hold it for ransom. In retaliation, she steals Hobbes. After Calvin apologizes and [[{{Irony}} pays up 25 cents for Hobbes's return]]. Calvin bombards Hobbes with demerits for not devouring Susie while he was captive. Hobbes claims he read Susie's diary.-->'''Calvin:''' "You get 15 demerits for besmirching the club's reputation, plus 5 more for conduct unbecoming of an officer, and a censure in the club book for not devouring Susie when you had the chance.-->'''Hobbes:''' "I read an open page of Susie's diary, it said 'Calvin is a pig-faced smelly fat-head!'"-->'''Calvin:''' "Brilliant work Hobbes! Promotions for everyone! Welcome back!"** Zig-zagged in another strip. Calvin, feeling bad for hurting Susie's feelings with the same sort of offhand insult he'd toss casually with Hobbes, apologizes to her. Susie says that she forgives him, and Calvin sprints off, the weight of guilt lifted. Realizing that she suffered much more than he did, Susie is suddenly less inclined to be forgiving.-->'''Susie''': '''ON THE OTHER HAND, LET'S SEE YOU GROVEL A LITTLE!'''* EasterEgg: Watterson occasionally slips some into the comics; for example, on at least two occasions he altered his signature to fit an ArtShift. [[http://www.theheartofgold.org/jumpstation/facts.html This page]] lists a few of them.* TheEighties: The strip began in this era, as you can guess by the occasional nods to the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. It ran for [[TheNineties a whole decade]], and you'll occasionally see references to contemporary technology and social issues. Calvin often expresses frustration with his parents being behind the times.* EnemyWithout / EvilTwin: Subverted and inverted. In one arc, Calvin creates a duplicate of himself to do his chores, but the duplicate is [[GoneHorriblyRight too much like him]] and refuses to help. Then it gets him in a bunch of trouble, not because it's more evil than him, but because it knows it can have fun and the original Calvin will get all the blame. In a later arc, Calvin manages to duplicate only the ''good'' side of his personality, who then masquerades as Calvin while the real article gets to slack off. (RunningGag: "If you're Calvin's good side, you ought to be a lot smaller.") This goes better, until the good duplicate tries writing romantic poetry for Susie, to the original's horror. The good duplicate eventually gets so frustrated with the original that it stops being good and just self-destructs.* EldritchAbomination: Some of those snowmen would be head trips if they weren't made of snow.* EleventyZillion:** When Calvin is having trouble with his homework, Hobbes tells him that the problem requires calculus and imaginary numbers, such as "eleventeen" and "thirty-twelve." [[CaptainObvious (Imaginary numbers are a real mathematical concept, but this isn't how they work.)]] And just to put the cherry on top, the question is ''eleven plus seven''.** In one strip, Calvin and Hobbes are discussing the value of nature and wildlife. When Hobbes suggests that "we need to start putting prices on the priceless," Calvin replies, "Yeah. If our woods are worth a zillion jillion bagillion, think what Alaska is worth."* EnfantTerrible: Calvin, though nowhere near as evil as some others, is still a terror.* EvenEvilHasStandards: Despite the rather minuscule nature of Calvin's good side, he never tries to actually hurt someone, and is always remorseful over any harm resulting.* EveryManHasHisPrice: Discussed by the duo during one wagon ride. Calvin claims his price is: "[[ComicallySmallDemand Two bucks cold cash up front]]."-->'''Hobbes''': I don't know which is worse: That everyone has their price, or that the price is always so low.-->'''Calvin''': I'd make mine higher, but it's hard enough to find buyers as it is.* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Check the page image. His imagination would add dinosaurs to ''every'' situation.* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: When Calvin assigned to give a report on a newspaper article, he chooses: "Space alien weds two-headed Elvis clone."-->'''Calvin''': Actually, there's not much left to explain.* EyeShock: Usually with several extra pairs of eyes jumping out of shocked characters' heads.* EyeTwitch: Farmer Brown experiences one when he sees a train, an airliner, and a massive fissure all headed for his house.* FacePalm: A common reaction to Calvin's shenanigans.* FakeRabies: Calvin made an attempt to fool his mom into thinking he was rabid using toothpaste foam. She didn't fall for it; he leaves considering the possibility that "Maybe Dad will fall for it if I bite him first."* FakingAmnesia; Calvin does this in one story arc as an excuse for his bad grades:-->'''Calvin''': Gee, it was awfully nice of you strangers to have me over for dinner.-->'''Dad''': Calvin, knock it off.-->'''Calvin''': You mean me? Is my name Calvin?-->'''Dad''': You're not fooling anyone, young man. You do not have amnesia.-->'''Calvin''': This all seems vaguely familiar... And yet... And yet...-->'''Dad''': You're asking for an early bedtime, kid.-->'''Mom''': Well, he seems to remember he likes dessert anyway.-->'''Calvin''': This is "dessert" you say? Hmm... Perhaps my memory would return if I had some more.-->'''Dad''': That's it -- bed!* FandomSpecificPlot: A good number of Fanfic[=s=] are about Calvin as a teenager or adult; often including putting him in a more obviously romantic relationship with Susie.* FanMyopia: InUniverse. Calvin shows Susie some of his "Captain Napalm" bubblegum cards and offers to trade with her.-->'''Susie''': "I don't collect Captain Napalm bubblegum cards." (Leaves)-->'''Calvin''': "It must be difficult going through life with no sense of purpose."* FantasticAesop: "[[{{Snowlems}} Snow goons]] are bad news."* FantasticRacism: Hobbes seems very proud of a perceived superiority of tigers over the rest of Earth's species.* FashionHurts: When Calvin complains about a choking necktie, his father reminds him that some people have to wear ties everyday.* FauxHorrific:-->'''Calvin''': Trick or treat!-->'''Adult''': Where's your costume? What are you supposed to be?-->'''Calvin''': I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet, raised to an alarming extent by Madison Avenue and Hollywood, poised with my cynical and alienated peers to take over the world when you're old and weak! Am I scary or what?* FelonyMisdemeanor: Expulsion from G.R.O.S.S. for cavorting with the enemy (Susie,) or singing the anthem ahead of schedule.-->'''Hobbes:''' OHHOHH GRO-HOSS, BEST CLUB IN THE COSMOS...\\'''Calvin:''' '''Stop that, you anarchist'''!* FilleFatale: A humorous variant occurs when Susie "charms" Hobbes into betraying Calvin during their water balloon fight. HilarityEnsues. More generally, Hobbes's crush on Susie is the in-story explanation of why he never hurts her despite Calvin's urging, if you go for the Hobbes-is-real explanation.* FilmNoir: Tracer Bullet's adventures are parodies of stock noir plots.* FingerInTheMail: When Calvin captures Susie's doll, he threatens to do this.* FloweryElizabethanEnglish: Calvin begins imagining people talking like this after being forced to watch some [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare]] on TV.* FollowTheLeader: One strip satirized this idea. Hobbes finds Calvin building a snowman. Not one of his usual grotesque snowmen, but a mundane snowman that a normal kid would make. Calvin says that he would only be successful if he stopped trying to be original and just copied what everyone else did.* FootnoteFever: In one strip, Calvin writes a letter to Santa saying: "I have been extremely good* this year." Hobbes reads it and says: "Obviously, you're hoping Santa won't read the long, fine-print disclosure in the footnote," to which Calvin replies: "I got the idea from car ads."* ForgedMessage: Calvin attempts to leave school using a forged note signed by the President ("P.S.: Really."). Naturally, this fails.* ForgottenPhlebotinum: The transmogrifer, transmogrifer gun, time machine and duplicator only made one or two appearances after their initial debuts, despite how they could easily get Calvin out of his many situations. The Cerebral Enhance-O-Tron never appeared again after its debut, as well.* ForgotToPayTheBill: At one point, Calvin claims he didn't do his homework because his parents forgot to pay the gravity bill.* FormallyNamedPet: Susie's stuffed rabbit Mr. Bun.* FormerTeenRebel: Calvin's dad. ("Is this you with the keg and the "Party Naked" T-shirt?")* FranchiseZombie: Averted. Watterson ended the comic to prevent this from happening.* FreakOut: Calvin had one of these in school when he realized he was trapped inside during a beautiful day. Miss Wormwood was surprisingly sympathetic, advising Calvin to "take a drink of water and a few deep breaths" as she took him back to his seat.** ''Unsurprisingly'' sympathetic, given that other strips state that she drinks Maalox straight from the bottle and smokes heavily just to get through the week. She might relate to him the most in this aspect, in an odd way.** As mentioned in AdultFear above; when the family came home from vacation, Calvin was freaked out that Hobbes might have been taken from him.* FriendlyWar: Calvin and Hobbes are often at each other's throats, but it's usually only in good fun.** The comic also gives us Calvin vs. Susie Derkins. After a shouting match, Calvin [[BreakingTheFourthWall Breaks the fourth wall]] and says: "It's shameless the way we flirt!" Could be BelligerentSexualTension if they weren't 6 years old (Watterson has written that Calvin likely has a mild crush on Susie which he expresses by being obnoxious toward her.)* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: For a six-year-old, Calvin is surprisingly knowledgeable about adult culture (he once asked his mom "Why would it be worth four dollars a minute to talk on the telephone to goofy ladies who wear their underwear on TV commercials?" and referenced the "It's Miller Time" commercials,) and repeatedly lectures his father on economics and society.* FunetikAksent: "Who ees thees Kählveen?"* FunWithAcronyms: The '''G'''et '''R'''id '''O'''f '''S'''limy girl'''S''' club.-->'''Calvin:''' I know it's [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment redundant]], but otherwise it doesn't spell anything.* FunWithFlushing: Calvin has an elaborate strip where he flushes a toy boat down the toilet. In another one, he and Hobbes dip the dangling paper from the roll into the toilet and flush it. At one point, Calvin himself [[PintSizedKid gets into the toilet bowl]], flushes himself around in circles, and then informs his mother that he'd finished his "bath."** There was also the time he threatened to flush Rosalyn's school notes.[[/folder]]

[[folder: G-H]]* TheGadfly: Calvin's dad. He's told Calvin that wind is caused by trees sneezing, that electricity is magic, that the world used to be black and white and changed to color in the 1930s (but photos were ''always'' in color,) that Calvin came from a Blue Light special at UsefulNotes/{{Kmart}}, that they were going to put the Christmas tree in the garage and not decorate it (and implied that Calvin wouldn't get a present.) Most of these would result in him getting threatened by Calvin's mom, especially the Christmas one (after which [[NeverMyFault he complains that the season gets less jolly every year]].)* GambitPileup: In one strip, Calvin and Hobbes are playing football. The quarterback is secretly a quarterback for the other team, after which Calvin breaks for the goal. Hobbes yells that Calvin is now going for his ''own'' goal because Hobbes switched the goals and his is hidden. Calvin says he doesn't ''need'' to, because as a traitor, crossing his own goal will count as crossing Hobbes's. But Hobbes hid his goal on top of Calvin's goal, so the points will go to Hobbes. But Calvin is really a double agent who is on Hobbes's team after all, meaning his team will lose points if Calvin crosses his goal. Then Hobbes is a traitor ''too'', meaning he is really on Calvin's team, and the points will go to Calvin's team, which is really Hobbes's... then they toss the foot ball aside and play {{Calvinball}}.* GenerationXerox: Calvin's mom was apparently just as wild as he is when she was his age (according to his grandmother,) and his father clearly has a highly active imagination in his own right, and the same inclination to mess with heads, based on his parental trolling.* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: See Radar.CalvinAndHobbes.* GhostInTheMachine: Several strips depict the inner workings of Calvin's mind and body as being operated by a bunch of miniature doppelgängers.* GirlsHaveCooties: Why Calvin founds G.R.O.S.S. While he's verbose enough to come across as a HeManWomanHater, it's clear from the rest of the series that he's just acting on his six-year-old ignorance.* GodOfEvil: [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/12/06 Calvin himself]], in one of his fantasies.-->...But Calvin is no kind and loving god! He's one of the ''old'' gods! He demands sacrifice! [...] Yes, Calvin is a god of the underworld! And the puny inhabitants of earth displease him! [[EarthShatteringKaboom The great Calvin ignores their pleas for mercy]] and the doomed writhe in agony!** Another strip has Spaceman Spiff about to be sacrificed to the evil god "[[FunetikAksent Nollij]]" (in this case, Calvin getting called to the blackboard.)* GodwinsLaw: In one strip, Rosalyn orders Calvin to go to his room, only to receive a Sieg Heil and "Jawohl, mein Führer!" in reply.** In another, Calvin's mom tells him that no, he will not be spending the afternoon at the comic book store as he announced. "And you can stop goose-stepping around the house!"** A variation of this law appears when Calvin calls his parents Communists for making him go to bed early.* GoingCommando: "The Valiant Spaceman Spiff is led by his captors to a secret dungeon to be debriefed! [[{{Pun}} Little do they realize that our hero doesn't WEAR briefs!]]"* GoneHorriblyRight: In order to avoid doing his chores, Calvin clones himself using the newly-invented Duplicator. He succeeds in creating a perfect clone... who of course outright refuses to do the chores as well. HilarityEnsues.-->'''Hobbes:''' He's a duplicate of you, alright.-->'''Calvin:''': What are you talking about? [[HypocriticalHumor This guy is a complete jerk!]]* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Calvin has lucky rocket ship briefs, which often do not improve his luck. He also has several pairs of underwear printed with cartoon animals.* GoshDangItToHeck: "Gosh, I've never been a vandal before!" Calvin once noted that "[[ItMakesSenseInContext I'm only civil]] because I don't know any swear words."* GreenAesop: Probably the most of any newspaper comic. Some are good, and actually quite funny, but others (mostly from the later run of the strip) descend to almost ''WesternAnimation/FernGully'' / ''WesternAnimation/{{Captain Planet|AndThePlaneteers}}'' levels (see the {{Anvilicious}} entry on the YMMV page.)** The best such story arc started with Calvin and Hobbes surprised and enraged to learn that part of the forest they love to play in is in the process of being razed to be the site of "Shady Acres Condos." It gave us the wonderful Hobbes quote, "The only shade I see is from that bulldozer." Another gem is when Calvin asks how humans would feel if animals bulldozed the condos to put in new trees... [[GilliganCut cut]] to Hobbes in the bulldozer, saying it's no good, as the driver didn't leave the keys.** Another famous line; while looking at a pile of garbage in the forest, Calvin sadly says: "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."* GreyAndGrayMorality: Most nobody in the strip is completely good or bad. Calvin is a bratty child who enjoys ruining people's days. Hobbes, despite being Calvin's best friend, constantly torments him, says rude things just to annoy him, and makes snarky comments. On the other hand, most of Calvin's other antagonists, such as Susie, Rosalyn, and Miss Wormwood, are just reacting out of Calvin bothering them. The only character shown without any redeemable traits is Moe, not counting imaginative foes like the bike or the monsters under Calvin's bed.* GrillingPyrotechnics: Calvin once tried to talk his dad into invoking this. Natch, he concludes that he has the most boring dad in the world.* GunsAreWorthless: You can probably count the number of times that Spiff's "Death Ray Blaster" ''wasn't'' useless against an enemy on one hand.* HairTriggerTemper: It doesn't take much for Calvin to get on Rosalyn's nerves. In one strip, he gets sent to bed early just for firing two Nerf darts at her and in another, the ''mere mention'' of how he threatened to flush her science notes is enough to get him into trouble.* HappilyMarried: Calvin's parents.** [[ZigZaggedTrope Most of the time, anyway...]]-->'''Mom:''' It's ''your'' fault we don't have a sweet little girl! ''Your'' stupid chromosome! NOT MINE!\\'''Dad:''' (thinking) ''...I just live here...''* HatOfAuthority: The paper hats C&H wear during G.R.O.S.S. meetings may count. The snazzy "commander helmet" Calvin dons for their Yukon expedition definitely counts -- Calvin claims leadership by dint of the helmet, whereupon Hobbes promptly takes it.* HerCodeNameWasMarySue: Calvin's many alter-egos.* HeroAntagonist: Just about every single character other than Calvin has their moments. Only Moe is a straight-up villain.* HiccupHijinks: Drinking from the far end of a glass and eating spoonfuls of sugar didn't help. After they finally went away, Hobbes pounced on him in an attempt to cure them... [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and ended up bringing them back even worse]].* HistoricalInJoke: ''John Calvin'' established the republic of Geneva, a strict religious society that still had effect on the childhood of Creator/JeanJaquesRousseau, who was born in the town. When grown up, he wrote his ''Contrat Social'', inspired by ''Leviathan'', the work of Creator/ThomasHobbes. Rousseau also wrote ''Emile'', a thesis on the upbringing of children, claiming that a child should have as much freedom as possible. Cue our titular character.* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Watterson arguably torpedoed his own efforts to get rid of illegal merchandise by not allowing any legitimate products in the first place (i.e., if his relationship with his syndicate had not been so adversarial, Watterson could have called on the resources of a mighty corporate legal department to crack down on those Calvin-peeing-on-things stickers.)** Also, Watterson revealed in one of the anthologies that after winning the right to lay out his Sunday strips however he wanted, he discovered that crafting the new, more artistic strips took several times longer than the old, formulaic ones.** In-universe: Calvin saves a snowball from winter in the freezer in order to throw it at Susie in June. Guess who ends up being hit by the snowball.** Another in-universe example: Calvin and Hobbes are going to have a water balloon fight. Calvin starts filling balloons, but he keeps messing them up and splashing water on himself. Hobbes comes over and decides that there's no point in throwing his balloon because Calvin is soaked from head to toe already.* HollywoodPudgy: {{Discussed|Trope}} in-universe in the baseball team arc. Calvin complains to Susie at the bus stop about how lucky she is to be a girl and not be expected to play sports, to which she comments, "On the other hand, boys aren't expected to spend their life 20 pounds underweight."* HomeAloneAntics: One strip has Calvin's parents come home to find a house full of booby traps, because Calvin watched a scary movie while they were out and then rigged up defenses against a monster attack.* HorribleCampingTrip: Calvin and his family have been on a number of these, the worst being the trip where it began raining the moment the trip began and cleared up the moment the trip ended.-->'''Calvin''': (whispering gleefully) Do you know what all of Dad's words meant?\\'''Hobbes''': (whispering) No, but I wrote 'em down so we can look them up later.** And then there's what Calvin's Mom had to say about the whole affair:-->'''Calvin's Mom''': Calvin, tell your dad that any judge would take this trip as grounds for divorce.-->'''Calvin''': Dad, Mom says...-->'''Calvin's Dad''': All right! All right!** And of course, let's not forget the one where they go camping on an island: Calvin drops a bag of very expensive equipment in ten feet of very cold water, his dad accidentally stacks a tackle box and bags on his glasses, and apparently he'd left the car headlights on back at the canoe rental place.* HumanMail: Calvin sometimes attempts to run away by sitting in a box by the mailbox with a vague address written on it (for example, "To OS TRYLA"). It... [[ForegoneConclusion doesn't work]].* HumanoidAliens: Often encountered by Spaceman Spiff, although they're never ''too'' humanoid.* HumansAreBastards: Used repeatedly, and one arc has Calvin as so disgusted with humans that he resolves to become a tiger. It's driven home when he decides to go back to being a human only because he finds out tigers are endangered because of humans, and he doesn't want to be killed.** There's also a strip in this vein satirizing hunting, in which a trio of deer walk into an office with hunting rifles and kill an employee. Calvin claims that they do this to curb human overpopulation, a popular justification for deer hunting.** Though the Sunday strip where Calvin explains why he hangs out with Hobbes instead of human kids is a heartwarming moment.** One memorable comic strip...-->'''Calvin''': Hobbes, look! I caught a butterfly in this jar!-->'''Hobbes''': If people could put rainbows in zoos, they would.-->''*beat panel as Hobbes walks away*''-->''*Calvin opens the jar, releasing the butterfly*''* HumbleGoal: Hobbes's wish is to have a sandwich. He achieves it. This is contrasted with Calvin, whose more extravagant wish for "a trillion billion dollars, my own space shuttle, and a private continent" goes unfulfilled.** Another time, Calvin and Hobbes are outside and Calvin asks Hobbes what he would wish for if he could have anything. Hobbes wishes for "a big sunny field to be in." Calvin points out that Hobbes is ''already'' in a sunny field and says he should wish for something big like power or riches. Then he looks at Hobbes napping in the grass and admits that it's hard to argue with someone who looks so happy.* HypocriticalHumor: Calvin complains about having to walk up hills before sledding down them and asks Hobbes to pull him up on the sled. Hobbes declines, prompting Calvin to grumpily say that "He's so lazy and selfish."** Calvin steals Susie's doll to use to ransom her for $100 and laughs about it. Next part, Susie swipes Hobbes in revenge to use as leverage, and Calvin rants about how it "wasn't fair and that Susie couldn't take a joke." Then angrily grunts that it was "all funny until she did it to him."** Perhaps best exemplified when Calvin [[CharacterFilibuster ranted for three panels]] about people who complain too much. In the fourth panel, Hobbes says "Maybe they're not very self-aware," to which Calvin replies, "Boy, that's ''another'' thing that gets on my nerves!"** A similar comic had Calvin making an out-of-the-blue comment to Hobbes: "Do you ever wonder why birds don't write their memoirs? Because birds don't lead epic lives, that's why! Who wants to read about what a bird does? Nobody!" Two panels later, he complains about [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} people who make bizarre comments out of nowhere]] and suggests the solution of punching them right there, to which Hobbes says: "If you wait, he might top himself." Watterson said that this is an exaggeration of his wife's own abrupt subject changes.** Yet another one showed Calvin making a list called "One Million Things That Bug Me." After listing a half dozen random things, Hobbes pops his head in and says, "What about 'excessively negative people'?" to which Calvin responds, "Yeah, that's a good one... '''''HEY!'''''"** Combined with LeaningOnTheFourthWall: A series of four visually identical panels of Calvin and Hobbes talking while facing each other. The subject? How newspaper comics have degenerated into talking heads with little artistry.** Calvin announces to Hobbes that [[AboveGoodAndEvil he has outgrown morality]] and "the ends justify the means." After Hobbes shoves him into the mud (because "You were in my way, now you're not-the ends justify the means,") he stipulates that the rule only applies to ''him.''** Susie and Hobbes enjoy throwing snowballs and water balloons at Calvin, yet beat him when he throws them at them.** In the duplicator arc where clones of Calvin were made, they choose to go about their own thing not caring if they get in trouble or not since they would just be mistaken for the original anyway.-->'''Calvin:''' What a bunch of devious little stinkers! Where'd they learn to misbehave like that!?** After Hobbes [[ComicallyMissingThePoint misses the point of]] a TalkingAnimal joke Calvin tells him.-->'''Hobbes''': Where did the dog learn to talk?** Calvin complains that the house is too cold and says that Dad should get a better job so they can afford higher heating bills. Then he asks why the family can't move to Florida.-->'''Mom:''' Calvin, pipe down and put on a sweater if you're cold.-->'''Calvin:''' And go to all that trouble?![[/folder]]

[[folder:I-K]]* ICanExplain: Calvin panics as he tries to explain to his mother what he thinks Miss Wormwood told her. He almost confesses to the NoodleIncident in doing so, which his mother didn't even know about.** Averted in a strip where Calvin is hammering nails into the living room table. His mother freaks and demands to know what he's doing, to which he simply retorts: "Is this a trick question?"* [[ICantLookGesture "I Can't Look" Gesture]]: In one strip, Calvin hides his face as he and Hobbes go plunging off a cliff in their wagon.-->'''Hobbes''': We're headed for that cliff!-->'''Calvin''': I don't want to know about it!* IdenticalPanelGag: In one strip, Calvin tells Hobbes about his grandfather, who complains that modern comic strips are "nothing but a bunch of xeroxed talking heads." Every panel in the strip is the same two-shot of Calvin and Hobbes, with only the speech bubbles changing. (Although, on closer inspection, there are enough tiny differences to show that each "identical" panel was actually drawn separately.)* IDontLikeYouAndYouDontLikeMe: Calvin says this to his bicycle in one strip. It proceeds to run him over.* IfIWantedXIWouldY: Calvin explains why he does not like organized sports:-->'''Calvin''': I hate all the rules and organization and teams and ranks in sports. Somebody's always yelling at you, telling you where to be, what to do, and when to do it. I figure when I want that, I'll join the Army and at least get paid.* IgnorantOfTheirOwnIgnorance: Calvin constantly overestimates himself.* IgnoredAesop: Understandable, since Calvin's imagination doesn't really work in such a way as to promote obvious, learnable lessons.-->'''Calvin''': Well, Hobbes, I guess there's a moral to all this.\\'''Hobbes''': What's that?\\'''Calvin''': 'Snow Goons are Bad News'.\\'''Hobbes''': ''That'' lesson certainly ought to be inapplicable later in life.\\'''Calvin''': I like maxims that don't encourage behavior modification.* IgnoringBySinging: [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/09/21 In this strip]], Hobbes starts mocking Calvin's height, telling him he'll always be short and that his parents are planning to sell him to a circus sideshow. Calvin shouts "I'm not listening!" then puts his hands over his ears and starts singing "The Star-Spangled Banner."* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Calvin occasionally laments the fact that, as a human, he doesn't have any of the cool traits many animals do, like retractable claws, fangs, opposable toes, wings, the ability to light up his behind the way fireflies do, etc.* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: Calvin wanted to trick Susie so he could soak her with water balloons. So he left an easily decipherable "secret code" note for her to find (in backwards letters,) hoping she would go behind his house. [[spoiler:She caught on quickly and hid elsewhere to spray Calvin with the garden hose]].* ImaginaryFriend: Hobbes.** Maybe. See NotSoImaginaryFriend below.* ImagineSpot: Happens quite often, but most notably the Spaceman Spiff and Stupendous Man sequences.* IMeantToDoThat:** Calvin says this after his attempt to launch a giant snowball (by placing it on the end of a plank balanced atop a log and jumping on the other end of said plank) ends with him getting splattered. Hobbes' response: "Then it worked very well."** Hobbes also invokes this when he's about to tackle Calvin, but then Calvin ducks down to pick up a penny, causing Hobbes to pass over him and crash-land on the floor. Hobbes then gets up and walks away with as much dignity as he can muster, leading Calvin to say Hobbes would just ''love'' him to think he missed Calvin on purpose.* ImplausibleDeniability: Calvin is an artist, and BlatantLies and InsaneTrollLogic are his canvas. It doesn't matter if you photographed or video recorded him in the act, that's only circumstantial evidence.* ImpossibleShadowPuppets: Calvin makes a shadow puppet, which looks like, as Hobbes calls it: "A bug-eyed, tentacled thing." Turns out it's the real thing, [[HorrorStruck to the duo's horror]].* IncrediblyLameFun: Calvin plays a game where he asks Hobbes to guess a number between one and seven hundred billion. No "higher/lower" or "warm/cold"; only "nope, guess again". Hobbes wanders off after two guesses.-->'''Calvin:''' What's the matter?! Don't you like games?!* InformedAbility: PlayedForLaughs with Calvin's [[HerCodenameWasMarySue imaginary alter ego]] Spaceman Spiff. He's constantly described as a tremendous pilot, superb marksman and all round brilliant space explorer, but pretty much every story about him begins as his ship is crashing and/or he's captured by aliens. His "[[RayGun Death-Ray Blaster]]" also tends to be utterly useless, because in real life it's actually a squirt gun. Spaceman Spiff's piloting is also {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in one strip: "The intrepid Spaceman Spiff is stranded on a distant planet! ...our hero ruefully acknowledges that this happens fairly frequently."** Same with Stupendous Man; after yet another blunder, Hobbes asks Calvin if Stupendous Man ever won any battle. Calvin replies they are all "[[DoomedMoralVictor moral victories]]."* InformedFlaw: In one comic, it's claimed Susie eats sandwiches by taking them apart and eating each ingredient separately. Not only is this never referenced again, several later comics show Susie eating her sandwich normally.* InnocentProdigy: Calvin, who goes from his imagined personae to deep insight at the drop of a hat.* InsignificantBlueDot: Played with by Calvin, usually to get out of answering test problems in school.* IntellectualAnimal: Hobbes. "There are times when it's a source of great personal pride to not be human."* IntolerableTolerance:-->'''Hobbes''': How are you doing on your new year's resolutions?-->'''Calvin''': I didn't make any. See, in order to improve oneself, one must have some idea of what's "good." That implies certain values. But as we all, values are relative. Every system of belief is equally valid, and we need to tolerate diversity. Virtue isn't "better" than vice. It's just different.-->'''Hobbes''': I'm not sure I can tolerate that much tolerance.-->'''Calvin''': I refuse to be victimized by notions of virtuous behavior.* {{Irony}}: The very first mention of "Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie," which becomes Calvin's favorite book.-->'''Dad''': You might like this story.-->'''Calvin''': Oh yeah? How good can it be if it hasn't been made into a TV show?* IronicHell: After dozens of nights after having to read ''Hamster Huey'' over and over again, Calvin's dad muses:-->'''Dad''': Architects should be forced to live in the buildings they design, and children's book authors should be forced to read their stories aloud every single night of their rotten lives.* [[ItsAllAboutMe It's All About Calvin]]. Very much so. While he'll occasionally show concern for others, for animals (the little raccoon,) or for the environment, the majority of strips show Calvin only thinking about himself.-->'''Calvin''': I don't want to pay any dues in life. I want to be a one-in-a-million, overnight success! I want the world handed to me on a silver platter!-->'''[[CatsAreSnarkers Hobbes]]''': Good luck.-->'''Calvin''' (Yelling after him): Surely you concede I ''deserve'' it!* IveHeardOfThatWhatIsIt: When Calvin is told that he'll be having tortellini for dinner, he doesn't allow his ignorance of what it is to stand in the way of a loud tirade about his dislike for it.* {{Jerkass}}: Calvin's teammates and ''especially'' the coach during the baseball arc. He becomes bullied (one of them threatens to ''hit Calvin with a bat'') to the point of not wanting to play anymore. The coach's response? "Ok, quitter! Goodbye."** Calvin himself is also one. At one time, he steals Susie's doll to use as a ransom for $100. Took it even further by including a photo of the doll tied to a chair along with the ransom note.* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Calvin's heart is well hidden, but Hobbes being damaged or an injured animal can bring it out. He can also get genuinely remorseful if one of his pranks goes too far.** Meanwhile, the trope is averted with Moe.* KarmaHoudini: Everyone but Calvin, though Moe is the most egregious example. He constantly tortures Calvin, despite being the only character to whom Calvin never does anything that would warrant it. Though at times Calvin insults Moe anyway, figuring if he's going to get beaten, he might as well get the most out of it.** One time when Moe is extorting his lunch money, Calvin says: "Your simian countenance suggests a heritage rich in species diversity" (i.e. your ape-like appearance means you probably have ancestry there.) Calvin gets away with it when Moe has no clue what he just said, and Calvin notes after he leaves, "That was ''worth'' 25 cents."* KidsAreCruel: Calvin has been both the instigator and the victim of such acts.* KidsPreferBoxes: In addition to using cardboard boxes to make all sorts of devices, one time Calvin sent away for a motorized propeller beanie. When it finally arrives, he kicks it away after realizing that it doesn't let him fly around town as he had imagined and prefers to play with the cool cardboard box it came in instead.* KidsShouldntWatchHorrorFilms: Calvin, allowed to stay up one night without a babysitter, decides to rent a VCR and a bunch of scary movies. The aftermath:-->'''Calvin's Dad''': Well, the house is still standing. Calvin must have gone to bed.\\'''Calvin's Mom''': His light is still on. Calvin? Are you awake? ''(opens bedroom door, gets hit by BucketBoobyTrap)'' EEP! ''Did you watch a scary movie?!?''\\'''Calvin''': [[BlatantLies No.]] Don't come in. The rug is rigged too.** After reading a bunch of scary comics in ''A Nauseous Nocturne'', Calvin fears a monster is coming to eat him. He's right.** He also gets pretty traumatized after reading a superhero comic where [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath the superhero gets his spine blown in half]]. He tries to cope by watching TV, but his mom responds "[[ComicallyMissingThePoint There's too much violence on TV. Why don't you go read something]]?"* {{Knighting}}: Parodied [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1991/04/10 here]] by Calvin's father.* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Hobbes is always happy to help Calvin with his homework, but he resorts to feigning knowledge about the most basic things. In one strip, he "solves" a basic addition problem by calling the answer Y (as in "Y do we care?") guessing that Y might be a square number, drawing a square, and measuring the diagonal. When Calvin objects that the answer is too small, Hobbes draws a bigger square.** Calvin himself in spades as well. He arrogantly though he could fix a leaky faucet despite not knowing the first thing about plumbing (he actually considered using a hacksaw to take off the faucet head.) He also called Hobbes a moron for suggesting that he turn the water off BEFORE taking apart the faucet, then wind up breaking the faucet and flooding the bathroom.* KnowYourVines: After Calvin utterly fails a report on plants, he angrily asks what good it does to identify plants while holding a branch. Hobbes then replies "I believe that's poison sumac you're holding."[[/folder]]

[[folder: L-M]]* LaboriousLaziness: Two examples:** In [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1992/05/23 one series]], Calvin built a time machine to travel two hours into the future and get a copy of his homework from himself after it was already finished. Predictably, it doesn't work.-->'''6:30 Calvin:''' Well, since we're ''you'' from the past, I suppose you know why we're here. Did you do the homework?\\'''8:30 Calvin:''' Me?? No.\\'''6:30 Calvin:''' ''No?!'' Why not??\\'''8:30 Calvin:''' Because two hours ago, I went to the future to get it.\\'''6:30 Calvin:''' Yeah, and here I am! Where is it?!\\'''8:30 Calvin:''' That's what ''I'' said two hours ago!** In [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1989/08/28 another series]], Calvin didn't want to make his bed, so he and Hobbes spent all afternoon trying to build a robot to do it for him. They couldn't get the robot to work, but since they spent so long on it, the bed never got made. Mission accomplished!-->'''Hobbes:''' Wouldn't inventing a robot be more work than making the bed?-->'''Calvin:''' It's only work if somebody makes you do it.* LamePunReaction:** Calvin explains to Hobbes that he's taking a toy telephone into the woods to "try some bird calls." The next thing we know, the receiver's been wedged into his mouth and the cord is wrapped around his head and body by Hobbes.** In another strip:-->'''Calvin:''' Hey Hobbes, want to see an antelope?\\'''Hobbes:''' An antelope?\\'''Calvin:''' Come on! ''(goes to an anthill)'' See, she's climbing down the ladder to her boyfriend's car. ''(beat)'' You're not laughing.\\'''Hobbes:''' It's not funny.** In yet another strip, Calvin tells this joke to Hobbes: "What do you get when you cross a cantaloupe with Lassie? A mellon-collie baby!" Hobbes is not amused.* LampshadeHanging:** Done with Hobbes' tendency to get 'captured' during games with other people, since he can't move when anyone besides Calvin is around. "I've noticed that when we play games with girls, you get captured a lot."** There is also a strip where Hobbes asks Calvin why he wears "long pants" in the summer. His answer, and the punchline, is "Short pants touch my ''feet'', ok?!"** "The intrepid Spaceman Spiff is stranded on a distant planet! Our hero ruefully acknowledges that this happens fairly frequently..."* TheLancer: Hobbes.* LargeHamTitle: Calvin briefly renames himself "Calvin, Boy of Destiny". Or as he puts it, "Calvin! Boy... of ''Desssss''tiny!"* LaughingMad: Calvin once got a little too excited when making a snowball, to the point where he freaked himself out and wondered if he hadn't "tapped into some primeval well of the human psyche."* LeavingFoodForSanta: The throwaway joke of the Christmas Day 1988 [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/12/25 strip]] has Calvin telling his dad that he's leaving out a sandwich for Santa. Calvin then asks whether Santa would like some milk with it, and his dad responds, "I think 'Santa' would rather have a cold beer," much to his mother's annoyance.* LethalChef: Calvin's mom, in Calvin's mind. Though her cooking really ''is'' usually depicted as a formless mass of goo on a plate, it's Calvin who often imagines her dishes having lethal consequences or unspeakable ingredients. At one point, even Calvin's dad (after some comments by Calvin) demands to know ''what'' exactly it is he's eating, and that whatever it is, he's not eating it (it's ''supposed'' to be stuffed peppers). In this particular strip, Calvin refuses to eat his dinner, so his Mom mentions that it's [[ReversePsychology monkey brains]]. Calvin, naturally, is [[NightmareFetishist eager to try it]], but now Calvin's dad has apparently lost his appetite...** [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/12/29/ Another strip]] had virtually the same thing happening, this time with rice.** Yet another had a variation of the joke, in which it's dad who tries the ReversePsychology by whispering to Calvin in a confiding tone that he's right not to want to eat the food since it's actually toxic waste that will turn him into a mutant. Calvin gobbles it all up greedily in a fantastic flash. Mom remarks that there simply ''has'' to be a better way to make him eat.** It also seems to run in the family. One story arc involves Mom getting sick and unable to cook dinner. Dad takes her place in one strip:-->'''Dad''': Since your Mom is sick, I'll be cooking dinner tonight.-->'''Calvin''': YOU can cook?-->'''Dad''': Of course I can cook. As you can see, I survived two years of my own cooking when I had an apartment after college.-->'''Calvin''': Mom says you ate canned soup and waffles three meals a day.-->'''Dad''': Your mom wasn't there, so she wouldn't know. Get the syrup out, will you?** And then there was the strip where Calvin tried to make breakfast in bed for his sick mom:-->'''Calvin''': I made toast, orange juice, and eggs for you all by myself!-->'''Mom''': Oh, that's wonderful, Calvin!-->'''Calvin''': The eggs got burned and kind of stuck to the pan, but you can probably chip them out with this chisel.-->'''Mom''': Um... Where is the toast and orange juice?-->'''Calvin''': Dad said not to tell you about that until you're all better.* LimitedWardrobe: Calvin, Hobbes, and Moe. Everyone else changes outfits regularly.* LiteralGenie: Calvin likes to carefully interpret things people say, especially commands, so that they seem to encourage him to do what he wants.* LiteralMinded: Calvin exhibits this in one strip where Susie points out a cloud in the sky.--> '''Susie:''' What does that cloud look like to you?-->'''Calvin:''' A mass of suspended water and ice particles. Why do you ask?-->'''Susie:''' (dashes off)-->'''Calvin:''' ([[BreakingTheFourthWall smiling to the reader]]) Everybody hates a literalist.** Similarly, after he saw a cloud take the form of his own head giving him a raspberry, he decided that it was an omen. Of "very peculiar high altitude winds, I guess... You know, some sort of cumulonimbal thing." Quoth Hobbes: "Science kinds takes the fun out of the portent business."* LittleKnownFacts: Calvin occasionally asks his dad to explain some natural phenomenon, and his dad will draw on his vast knowledge of the real world as a patent attorney... And come up with something [[ArtisticLicensePhysics completely ludicrous]] instead. [[http://www.s-anand.net/blog/calvin-and-hobbes-dad-explains-science/ Behold his wisdom!]] A typical example:-->'''Calvin:''' Why does the sun set?\\'''Dad:''' [[LiesToChildren Because hot air rises. The sun's hot in the middle of the day, so it rises high in the sky. In the evening then, it cools down and sets]].\\'''Calvin:''' So why does it go from east to west?\\'''Dad:''' [[BlatantLies Solar wind]].\\'''Mom:''' (off-panel) ''Dear!''** Most of the time he just does this to screw with Calvin's head. Watterson has never been a father, but he imagines fatherhood would be filled with this temptation.** Granted, he did choose to provide an interesting lecture on relativity, using a record player to illustrate his lesson. Calvin ended up unable to sleep, with his brow knitted from trying to understand that.* LittleMissSnarker: Susie Derkins.-->'''Calvin''': War is a [[TestosteronePoisoning manly]] art!-->'''Susie''': I suppose anything so idiotic would have to be. Can I play in your game or not?-->'''Calvin''': I don't know, it seems you'd rather be making smart remarks.** Calvin can be a male example of this from time to time.* LittleProfessorDialog: One of the prime examples of this trope, to the point where it almost becomes a RunningGag. Watterson explained in one author's foreword that his favorite thing about Calvin was "his ability to precisely articulate stupid ideas."* {{Lobotomy}}:** When Susie tells Calvin she enjoys going to school to learn, Calvin stares closely at her before declaring: "Your bangs do a good job of covering up the lobotomy scars."** After Hobbes cuts Calvin's hair and messes up, he tries to cover it up by tying a cloth around his head. While Hobbes thinks he looks like Film/LawrenceOfArabia, Calvin thinks he looks more like a lobotomy patient.** Calvin pretends to be giving one to a pumpkin while carving it into a jack-o-lantern.* LockedInTheBathroom: In one strip, Calvin takes Rosalyn's science notes when she is babysitting him and locks himself in the bathroom with them, threatening to flush them down the toilet. [[spoiler:Rosalyn ignores Calvin for a while and, thinking she has gone to call the fire department to axe open the door, he comes out to see the fire trucks]].* LookMaNoPlane: In one story line, Calvin thinks a motorized propeller beanie will let him fly, complete with fantasy sequence where he waves at a plane. Another Sunday fantasy has his parents letting him drive the car, and he drives so fast he breaks the speedometer, goes airborne and passes a jet.** Another strip had Calvin pretending he was the plane complete with a fantasy of him flying through the air with his arms out like a plane's wings. According to his mom, he was just running around in circles with his arms out in the backyard until he got sick (at that point, he was pretending the plane was stuck in a holding pattern.)-->'''Calvin:''' From now on I'm playing "bus."* LoopholeAbuse:** When asked to explain Newton's First Law of Motion in his own words, he answers the question by using his own words:-->'''Calvin:''' ''[writing]'' Yakka foob mog. Grug pubbawup zink wattoom gazork. Chumble spuzz. ''[aloud]''' I love loopholes.** Another example:-->'''Miss Wormwood:''' (After Calvin has, as usual, been daydreaming:) Pay attention! Now, [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield what state do you live in]]?\\'''Calvin:''' Denial!\\'''Miss Wormwood:''' ''(sigh)'' I don't suppose I can argue with ''that''... (Calvin happily goes back into his daydream.)** When Calvin's mother tells him to get in the tub, he does so -- fully clothed, without running any water. She closes the loophole pretty quickly though.* LopsidedDichotomy:** From a Tracer Bullet story:-->"Either she had a psychotic decorator, or her place had been ransacked by someone in a big hurry."** Another earlier in the series:-->"Either Mom's cooking dinner, or someone got sick in the furnace duct."* LotsOfLuggage: Used in the 05/22/86 strip when Calvin is on a camping trip with his Boy Scout troop.-->'''Hobbes:''' Grab the hot dogs and come on! The troop's cooking dinner over the fire.-->'''Calvin:''' ''(rummaging in the tent)'' Oh, that's just great. Here we've been lugging this dumb microwave around for nothing.* MadAtADream: After having a dream that his parents were replaced by aliens who were experimenting on him, Calvin greets his mother at his next meal with a great deal of suspicion.* TheMagnificent: Calvin the Bold.** Boy... of '''DESSSSTINY''' (cymbal crash.)** "Calvin the '''Super''' Genius."-->'''Hobbes''': This is how you sign your reports?-->'''Calvin''': It kinda encourages you to read them more charitably, don't you think?* MakingASpectacleOfYourself: In one SundayStrip, Calvin tried to persuade his mom to buy him some CoolShades that any troper would testify were from the same manufacturer as [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina's]].* MaliciousMisnaming: Moe tends to refer to Calvin as "Twinky". This is presumably unconnected to the word's modern racial usage.* MamaBear: Calvin's mother can and does do this whenever Dad's teasing goes too far:-->'''Mom''': I know somebody who's going to get a ''lot'' of coal in his stocking, buster.* ManMadeHouseFlood: One strip has Calvin calling his dad at work, apparently to make small talk. The final panel reveals the real reason he's calling: He somehow managed to flood the house, and the waterline is high enough to reach the top of the ladder that Calvin is currently on. In another, Calvin manages to turn the stairs into a waterfall. Unlike the previous example, we see how the waterfall happened; Calvin was horsing around in the bathtub.** Another time, Calvin calls Dad at work, but Dad is very busy and [[NotNowKiddo tells Calvin to hang up unless he's calling about something really important]]. Calvin hangs up, looks at the overflowing sink that is rapidly flooding the kitchen, and decides that this should qualify as "really important" in about 15 minutes.** Still another example: Calvin rapidly swims back and forth in the bathtub and then happily exclaims: "Tidal wave!" Cut to Mom standing in knee-deep water on the bathroom floor and Calvin saying he doesn't know how this happened, [[BlatantLies maybe the seal around the tub leaks]].* MarshmallowDream: Hobbes and his 'weasel dreams.' Occasionally, it would be Calvin who got torn up and not the pillow.* MathematiciansAnswer:-->'''Calvin''': Why do you suppose we're here?\\'''Hobbes''': Because we walked here.\\'''Calvin''': No, I mean here on Earth.\\'''Hobbes''': Because Earth can support life.\\'''Calvin''': No, I mean why are we ''anywhere''? Why do we exist?\\'''Hobbes''': Because we were born.* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The existence of Hobbes. Is he real, or an ImaginaryFriend?** For that matter, some of the more surreal events of the strip. Was Calvin actually abducted by aliens and replaced by a robot double? Did he truly hijack the spaceship of a shape-shifting alien who took his place? How about the Snow Goons? Or the monsters under his bed? They could all be credited to Calvin's imagination, but there's never any proof that they're not real.** Stupendous Man flew to a tree branch ten feet above the ground to drop a snowball larger than his head onto Susie Derkins. How could Calvin possibly have done that?** The incident that most fans point to is the time that Calvin asks Hobbes to tie him to a chair so that he can break free. Calvin is tied so tight that his parents are stumped as to how he got himself into the situation, despite Calvin's insistence that Hobbes did it.** Calvin has in fact done several strange things that have little explanation other than that Hobbes ''is'' real. When he took a picture of Hobbes "pouncing" on him, it was indeed a picture of Hobbes flying through the air with seemingly no outside force (possibly a friend could have thrown him, but of course Calvin has no friends.) Hobbes also once wrote a good story for Calvin's homework assignment, and Calvin honestly had no idea what it was about until he read it to his class.** Hobbes made a photo of Calvin while the boy was sneezing. There was no way Calvin could do this by himself -- setting the time right would be nigh-impossible and we can see Calvin's hands in the photo.** Or the one scene where Susie sees Calvin fighting Hobbes, and ''losing''. Even she admits that she can't explain that one.* MeaningfulName: Averted in early strips. The characters both share the names of philosophers, but a read through the early strips shows that any real significance once the strip itself got philosophical is a coincidence. (Calvin was, in fact, originally going to be named Marvin until [[ComicStrip/{{Marvin}} a strip of the same name]] launched.) Later characterizations played this trope straight. John Calvin was a theologian who believed in predestination, similar to how Calvin often ponders destiny and blames his faults on other forces. Thomas Hobbes was a philosopher who after going through the English civil war wrote the book ''Leviathan'', which advanced a very dim outlook on human nature. Likewise, Calvin's tiger often finds problems with humanity's stupidity, saying that tigers are superior. Other parallels exist, as well.* MentalStory: Even leaving aside the question of whether or not Hobbes is real, a lot of stories take place in Calvin's imagination.* MerchandiseDriven: Defied, at the cost of such hostility that Watterson actually thought about quitting the strip. All those Calvin window stickers you see are infringement. According to [[http://www.platypuscomix.net/otherpeople/watterson.html this site]], the only legal products ever sold (outside of the book collections of the original strips) were two calendars, a Museum of Modern Art t-shirt, and a speech/language textbook, "Teaching with Calvin and Hobbes."* MesACrowd: The duplicator machine arc.* MessOnAPlate: Calvin's mom's cooking is usually presented as unidentifiable lumps of mush.* MidairMotionShot: Both Calvin's wagon and the family car are often shown bouncing in the air to suggest motion (especially in earlier years.)* MirandaRights: Parodied. Mom sends Calvin to bed, but he comes right back downstairs to play with his toys. When Mom confronts him, he says, "You didn't read me my rights."* MisanthropeSupreme: Calvin's fantasies often tend in this direction.-->"I wish I was ''dead!'' ...Wait, no I don't really. [[IWishedYouWereDead I wish everyone]] ''[[IWishedYouWereDead else]]'' [[IWishedYouWereDead was dead]]."** At one point, Calvin fantasized about being an ancient god who brings whole worlds into existence and torments those who don't appease him. "The doomed writhe in agony!" The only thing keeping the strip from being mega-creepy is the fact that it ends with the reveal he's playing with Tinkertoys.** Also, Calvin has no friends aside from Hobbes. He joined a boy scouts-like organization once and participated in one organized sport but quit both as soon as he could. His tendency to get lost in his imagination tends to weird out the other kids.** Unintentionally invoked in a Sunday strip in which a daydreaming Calvin uses an F-15 to bomb his school off the face of the Earth. Watterson, upon receiving angry letters about how depicting such a thing was inexcusable, commented that some readers must have never been children themselves.* MiseryBuildsCharacter: It's practically Calvin's dad's motto.* MisplacedWildlife: An early strip has hippos and crocodiles in the Amazon (it's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caiman caimans]] that live there, which are more like alligators.)* MoralityDial: The "Ethicator" that Calvin added to his second Duplicator.* MrImagination: Calvin.* MrViceGuy: Calvin.* MundaneMadeAwesome: Calvin and Hobbes are masters at this.* MundaneObjectAmazement: Calvin shares with Hobbes his bafflement at the workings of a toaster -- [[http://picayune.uclick.com/comics/ch/1986/ch860312.gif where does the bread go?]]** Calvin digs for buried treasure in the back yard and is thrilled to find rocks, a root, and some grubs: "There's treasure everywhere!"* MundaneWish: In a Sunday strip, Calvin asks Hobbes what he'd wish for; Hobbes says he wants a sandwich. Calvin doesn't understand why and wishes for enormous wealth. Hobbes gets his wish, and Calvin obviously does not.** Another strip had Calvin ask a similar question, to which Hobbes replies that he'd wish for "a big sunny field to lie in." Calvin is aghast at how mundane this is, but then observes Hobbes sleeping in the grass. "Actually, it's hard to argue with someone who looks so happy."* MustacheVandalism: Discussed by Hobbes. Calvin's scheme to avoid getting attacked by Hobbes when he comes home by putting a dummy of himself in front of the door backfires, with Hobbes inviting the dummy inside and locking the real Calvin out. Calvin then overhears Hobbes asking the dummy: "May I draw mustaches on all the superheroes? I ''may''? Oh joy!"* MyBrainIsBig: This happens to Calvin when he invents a "thinking cap" to make himself smarter.* MyFutureSelfAndMe: Calvin's third and last adventure with the time machine features ''three'' Calvins, from only an hour apart.* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: There are times when Calvin realizes his shenanigans have gone too far and he genuinely feels bad about it.[[/folder]]

[[folder: N-O]]* NakedPeopleAreFunny: The [[AccidentalInnuendo strip]] became notorious among some early on for showing Calvin completely in the nude (although usually just from the back.)* NameAndName* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin Calvin]] and... [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes Hobbes]].** Following in this convention, in one strip Calvin invents a fake little brother named [[Creator/HermanMelville Melville]] to try to trick extra presents out of Santa.* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Doom Drop, Pallbearer's Peak, Dismemberment Gorge, Lookout Hill (which is not named for its view; rather, the name comes from Hobbes's tendency to yell "Look out!" while sledding down the hill) Mount Maim and Suicide Slope. These are the names Calvin gives to the various cliffs and hills he and Hobbes go down in the sled or the wagon, depending on the time of year. Presumably a joke on Watterson's hometown (and ambiguously the setting for the comic; see WhereTheHellIsSpringfield) of ''Chagrin'' Falls, Ohio.* TheNapoleon: In one summer strip, Hobbes asks Calvin why he's wearing long pants on a hot day and wonders why he doesn't wear short pants instead. Calvin immediately gets very angry. When Hobbes asks him what's wrong, a frustrated Calvin screams, ''"Short pants touch my ''feet'', okay?!"''* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: In the arc where Calvin plays baseball during recess, he catches a fly ball...only to find out that he did so for the other team (and boy do [[SoreLoser they]] [[JerkAss rip on him]] about it).* NegativeContinuity Spaceman Spiff apparently suffocates to death in one of Calvin's daydreams, but still reappears later on. Then again, it ''is'' just a daydream...* NeverMyFault: Calvin will invent entirely new realities rather than admit he made a mistake in this one. He also tends to blame others for his getting in trouble.* NewMediaAreEvil: Sometimes used, sometimes criticized. The combination almost seems hypocritical on Bill Watterson's part. Various remarks by Watterson in the Tenth Anniversary Book include:-->"I would suggest that it is not the medium, but the quality of perception and expression that determines the significance of art. But hey, what would a cartoonist know?"** Yet from the same book...-->"[[NinetiesAntiHero You can make your superhero a psychopath,]] [[LudicrousGibs you can draw gut-splattering violence,]] [[InsistentTerminology and you can call it a graphic novel]], but comic books are still incredibly stupid."*** Though, the above comment was made during TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks, so it shouldn't be taken as *too* contradictory.** He refers to television as the '20th century drug of choice' in that book as well. And then in There's Treasure Everywhere, there's a strip where Calvin gets so shaken reading a violent comic book, he puts it down and turns on TV instead, and then in the last panel:-->'''Calvin's Mom''': No, you don't. There's too much violence on TV. Why don't you go read something?** And for that matter, ''There's Treasure Everywhere'' is the same comic collection that brought us:-->'''Calvin''': I resent the quality of network programming! It is all fluff, violence, sensationalism and sleaze! I hunger for serious, tasteful entertainment that respects my intelligence!-->'''Calvin's Dad''': Then turn off the stupid TV and read a book.-->'''Calvin''': All right, ILied. Sue me.*** There's also a strip in which the TV appears to be broken, and Calvin and Hobbes are reading a book. Calvin reads Creator/KarlMarx's famous "religion is the opiate of the masses" quote and ponders the meaning; a thought bubble from the TV reads: "It means Karl Marx hadn't seen anything yet."** See also [[http://i.imgur.com/LqjGXiA.gif this strip]] on "high" art vs. "low" art.* NewYearsResolution* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: Several times Calvin's built scenes of snowmen who suffered a horrible death, causing his parents to question his sanity.* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: "Tyrannosaurs in F-14s!!" He once doodled in the margins of his new school textbook, creating an animated flip sequence in which "T-Rex drives the Batmobile and [[EveryCarIsAPinto explodes]]."* NoNameGiven: Calvin's last name, and the names of his parents. Susie Derkins is the only major character with both a first and a last name. Several minor characters who don't appear but are only mentioned, and then usually just the once, have full names: This includes three of Calvin's classmates and the author of his favorite book.** Watterson once commented that he invoked this with Calvin's parents because the strip is presented from Calvin's viewpoint, and as such his parents are only important ''as'' his parents. Part of the reason that Uncle Max never made any further appearances in the strip was that Watterson found it awkward that Max couldn't refer to Calvin's parents by their names.* NoodleIncident:** The mysterious "Noodle Incident" is the Trope Namer. The story is just as fragmented and impenetrable in-universe; not even Santa Claus can piece it together. Calvin himself claims he was framed (on the few occasions he can even think about the event without having a panic attack.)** One early strip mentioned the equally ambiguous "Salamander Incident." Whether or not this was the Noodle Incident's working title or another incident entirely was never elaborated on. Again, Calvin claims all evidence against him is purely circumstantial.** Calvin's favorite bedtime story, ''Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie'', is another example. Watterson is on record as saying that he will never define what the story is actually like, because inevitably it would be funnier in the reader's head. There's also the sequel, ''Commander Coriander Salamander and 'Er Singlehander Bellylander'', which Dad has an even lower opinion of. Funnily enough, there now is a children's book called that, by one Creator/MableBarr (the in-universe writer was [[PunnyName "Mable Syrup"]]) [[http://www.amazon.com/Hamster-Huey-Gooey-Kablooie-Adventure/dp/0974909009]].** In another strip, Calvin tells Hobbes, "Boy, did I get in trouble at school today... I don't even want to talk about it." Hobbes asks, "Did it have anything to do with all those sirens around noon?" and Calvin replies, "I ''said'' I don't want to talk about it."** In one storyline that involved Rosalyn, Calvin's mom says she called seven other people and neither of them agreed to babysit. She then tells Calvin, "You remember Amy? She just laughed when I called her." It's anyone's guess as to how Amy's night with Calvin went.* NoseNuggets: Calvin walks outside in the cold, then wrinkles his nose before making an AsideGlance and saying, "Don't you hate it when your boogers freeze?" [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in an anthology, where Bill Watterson wrote, "I hope some historian will confirm that I was the first cartoonist to use the word 'booger' in a newspaper comic strip." [[note]]For the record, [[http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/subject/The-Booger-Comics-and-Cartoons-by-Bloom+County.php he wasn't]]; ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'' beat him to it by 5 months.[[/note]]* NothingIsScarier: The monsters under Calvin's bed are never seen, only heard, though [[StupidEvil often they aren't that scary]]. However, the monster from the anthology poem ''A Nauseous Nocturne'' ''IS'' scary, and we only see hints of its body.** The last panel in [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/08/22 this]] strip. [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment It's made worse by the fact that people don't understand it]].* NotSoDifferent: Calvin has gotten this with both Ms. Wormwood (with whom he's been shown to share very similar feelings of frustration and weariness, though for ''very'' different reasons) and Rosalyn (who can relate to him and some of his interests surprisingly well, as in some ways she's still a "kid" herself.)* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Hobbes may or may not be one of these. Interestingly, Calvin seems not to know or care that other characters don't "see" Hobbes as he does.** Possibly averted with Mr. Bun, Susie's rabbit doll, who Hobbes remarks on as being "comatose."* NutritionalNightmare: ChocolateFrostedSugarBombs.-->''"They're crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and they don't have a single natural ingredient or essential vitamin to get in the way of that rich fudgy taste!"''* ObliviousToLove: Calvin and Susie Derkins. WordOfGod [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes#Susie_Derkins says]] that Calvin likely has a mild crush on Susie. Calvin apparently doesn't know how to deal with it, so he does his best to gross out and anger Susie, who then always gets mad at him.** Strangely enough, in the strip it's Hobbes who is attracted to Susie and is always persuading Calvin to go play with her.-->'''Calvin:''' So what happened to the mandibles of death, you sissy fur ball?!?\\'''Hobbes:''' I was beguiled by her feminine charms. Yow. Go soak your head.** Evidently, this romantic channel seems to work both ways, seeing how Susie even sent a Valentine's card addressed to ''Hobbes''.** It's not like Calvin never gives any indication of liking Susie himself. In fact, before you ever ''see'' her, the first strip to ''mention'' her features him comically blatantly bringing her up for no apparent reason and loudly [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial protesting too much]] that he doesn't like her, with Hobbes teasing him about it.** Perhaps the most obvious example of their mutual crush is when Calvin sends Susie an offensive valentine, to which she replies by shouting and hitting him. As she's walking away, she smiles and thinks "A Valentine and flowers! He ''likes'' me," while Calvin simultaneously thinks, "She noticed! She ''likes'' me."** And another strip in which Susie and Calvin run into each other, do nothing but trade insults, and walk away. Calvin observes: "It's shameless the way we flirt."* ObfuscatingStupidity: Possibly Calvin. His philosophical discussions imply that he's smarter than his grades indicate and he once told Susie that he found life easier the lower he kept everyone's expectations when she questioned why he was happy about getting a 'C' on a test.** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in one strip where Calvin (he's only 6 years old,) explains to his mother the complicated notion that black holes create a depression in space so that other objects "roll" towards them... and then adds "Speaking of gravity, I dropped a pitcher of lemonade in the kitchen when my roller blades slipped." While grinding her teeth and cleaning up the mess, his mom wonders how he can be so smart and yet so dumb.* OddlySmallOrganization: Calvin and Hobbes are the only members of the '''G'''et '''R'''id '''O'''f '''S'''limy Girl'''S''' club. As such, the two have many high-ranking positions, including Dictator-for-Life, President, Top Scout, Strike Force Commander, Chief Strategist, Cartologist, and Munitions Officer, among others.* OddShapedPanel: Arguably one of the TropeMakers for newspaper comics.* OffTheChart: Calvin gives his dad a talk about approval ratings that includes a chart like this.* OneTwoPunchline: Bill Watterson was fond of these, with Hobbes adding another punchline on the far right of the last panel, often a mockery or lampshade hanging on what Calvin was saying.* OnionTears:-->'''Calvin:''' Whatcha doin', Mom?\\'''Mom:''' ''(sobbing)'' I'm cutting up an onion.\\'''Calvin:''' It must be hard to cook when you anthropomorphize your vegetables.* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Calvin's mom finally panics about Calvin being sick when she says it's Saturday and therefore he won't be missing school, to which he simply replies "I know" without being upset about losing leisure time.* OrificeInvasion; In one strip, Calvin imagines this is how he gets a 'frog in the throat:'-->'''Calvin:''' [[ThirdPersonPerson Calvin wakes up staring into the eyes of a big frog]]. Seeing Calvin awake, the frog scrambles down and forces open Calvin's mouth! Calvin tries to fight, but the slippery amphibian instantly slides in and is swallowed! How disgusting!* OtherMeAnnoysMe: Calvin's duplicator-plus-ethicator.* OurZombiesAreDifferent: In late April 1987, Calvin got bored with his homework and started walking around sticking his eyes and tongue out, pretending to be a zombie. Hobbes saw this and decided to follow along, thinking "When in Rome." The April 30th strip had them staring at each other pretending to be zombies until they started laughing at the sight of each other.-->'''CALVIN''': "Heh heh... Of course, '''REAL''' zombies '''NEVER''' get the giggles by looking at each other."* OutOfCharacterMoment:** In one strip, Calvin asks his dad why the sky is blue and how clouds stay in the air. His dad can't remember why, only being able to guess vaguely and can't answer his questions. Very strange considering his usual glee in [[LiesToChildren deliberately giving Calvin the wrong facts]].** There is also a time when Susie asks Calvin for the answer on a test, versus the other way around, and Calvin supplies the correct answer, albeit accidentally.-->'''Calvin:''' Krakow! Krakow! Two direct hits!* OverlyLongScream: Calvin [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1990/03/28 does one upon learning that he is going to have Rosalyn as his baby sitter]].[[/folder]]

[[folder: P-R]]* PaintingTheMedium: The aforementioned black-and-white, un-outlined strip led to a punchline of Calvin's dad telling him "The problem is, you see everything in terms of black and white." Actually, that's more like ''not'' painting the medium.** Another example is Moe, who always spoke in mixed-case instead of all-caps.* PaperPeople: Deconstructed in one strip where Calvin imagines himself to have turned into one; he can't move unless he wriggles on the floor, is susceptible to the slightest gust of wind, but can hide by standing sideways.* PaperTiger: Parodied. Calvin asks Hobbes what a paper tiger is. Despite being a tiger himself, [[KnownothingKnowItAll Hobbes responds that]] a paper tiger delivers newspapers. Calvin is thus completely confused by his book that used the term.* ParentsAsPeople: Back in the nineties, it was pretty shocking to show a father openly regretting having children unless he was a villainous character. What's more, Calvin goes to great lengths to instill this antipathy in his parents (hiding dead bugs in his own mother's shampoo, blockading his dad's driveway with snow so he'll be late to work.) The pair can't even have a nice dinner out without Calvin destroying the house in their absence. Hence, when badgered with letters regarding Calvin's cruel parents, Watterson simply said, "They do a better job than I would."* ParentalBonus: Some of the things Calvin says would be completely incomprehensible to younger readers.-->'''Calvin''': "Why would it be worth four dollars a minute to talk on the phone to goofy ladies who wear their underwear on TV commercials?"** And not just limited to Calvin. After Calvin asks his mom for a little brother to beat up on, it cuts to Calvin's dad getting interrupted at work by a phone call:-->'''Calvin's Dad''': "Honey, can we discuss that operation some other time?..."* {{Pluralses}}: "Thanks, Hobbeses! You guys are life savers!"* PerpSweating: Calvin's parents can do this without even trying. Like when he broke Dad's binoculars.* PerfectlyCromulentWords: Calvin has a vocabulary that any adult would be proud of, but that doesn't stop him from making up words when the opportunity arises.* PickyEater: Calvin provides the image for the main page.* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Roughly two-thirds of all G.R.O.S.S. meetings consist of Calvin and Hobbes arguing over procedural matters, getting into fistfights and then declaring a truce, rather than actually doing anything to get rid of any girls, slimy or otherwise.* PoorMansPorn: Parodied when Hobbes admits to checking out tigresses in ''National Geographic''.* POVCam: Ever wonder what it would be like [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/02/19 to go sledding]] with Calvin?* PrisonerExchange: When Calvin "kidnaps" Susie's doll, Binky Betsy, and holds it for ransom, Susie "kidnaps" Hobbes in retaliation. Calvin ends up paying the ransom by giving Susie both her doll and a quarter in exchange for Hobbes.* PrivateEyeMonologue: Tracer Bullet.* ProductPlacement: McDonald's is mentioned from time to time.* PuffOfLogic: When a good-side-only duplicate of Calvin desires to "tear [him] limb from--," at which point he instantly evaporates for desiring the "evil" of violence. Thereafter, with no small degree of wry humor, Hobbes points out that of everyone he knows, Calvin's the only one whose good side is prone to badness.* PunnyName: Mable Syrup, author of "Hamster Huey."* PuppyDogEyes: Calvin tries to use these to get a flamethrower. Doesn't work.* PuttingThePeeInPool: Heavily implied in [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/08/27 this]] strip.* PushPolling: Calvin tends to employ this when discussing his dad's "approval ratings."* PutOffTheirFood: In one strip, Mom tells Calvin that the icky stuff on his plate is monkey brains in order to get him to eat it. But now Dad can't eat it because it {{Squick}}s him out.** Mom uses this tactic on another occasion as well, telling Calvin his dinner is "spider pie." Calvin is momentarily shocked, then decides he likes it. Mom says she believes they're going to have a quiet dinner for once. Dad looks queasy and says ''he'' doesn't feel like opening his mouth.** Mom brings home jelly doughnuts, and Calvin doesn't want one because he says jelly doughnuts gross him out: "They're like eating giant, squishy bugs. You bite into them and all their purple guts spill out the other end." He tells Mom she can eat the doughnuts instead, but she pushes the bag away, saying, "My friends ask me how I stay thin."* PutOnABus: One story arc features a visit by Calvin's Uncle Max, whom Watterson first intended to be a recurring character. But while writing the story he realized Max wasn't bringing out any new sides to Calvin, and also found it awkward to write around Max not addressing his brother and sister-in-law by name, so Uncle Max boarded a plane and went home, [[LongBusTrip never to appear in the strip again]].** Rosalyn disappeared halfway through the strip's run but [[TheBusCameBack returned]] [[BackForTheFinale for one final story arc]] in September 1995.* RadishCure: Calvin's mom lets Calvin smoke a cigarette his grandpa left behind. He really doesn't enjoy it, but the [[SpoofAesop Aesop]] he learns was ''not to trust his mother''.* RainDance: Calvin attempts a "snow dance" to get school cancelled. It doesn't work.* ReadingsBlewUpTheScale* RealDreamsAreWeirder: Although they tend to be far less weird than what Calvin imagines while he's awake.* RealityEnsues: Almost a RunningGag in this strip. One instance: Calvin actually gets an A on a paper for once. The (large) center panel is a huge, mid-city celebration, with confetti, cheering spectators, a gigantic Calvin statue and Calvin himself riding in a limo with the ''key to the city''. Unfortunately, back in reality, Ms. Wormwood just moves along to more classwork, much to a deflated Calvin's chagrin.** Another instance: Calvin is in the car with Mom and imagines that he is a daredevil pilot flying low over the Grand Canyon. He says this is where they'd go if he was driving. Mom spoils his fantasy by pointing out that he is not driving and that Arizona is not on the way to the grocery store.* RealPlaceBackground: Much of the art is based on the artist's home town, including the suburban atmosphere and the local trees, especially in [[http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/essential.jpg this large graphic that appeared on the back of an early collection]].* RecursiveReality: Calvin once grew to the size of a galaxy and found a door that led back to his own room.* RefugeInAudacity: Several examples. Calvin would occasionally do this, often in an attempt to baffle Miss Wormwood and get out of doing actual schoolwork.-->'''Calvin:''' Miss Wormwood, could we arrange our seats in a circle and have a little discussion? Specifically, I'd like to debate whether cannibalism ought to be grounds for leniency in murders, since it's less wasteful.* ReligiousRussianRoulette: In a couple of strips.* RightHandCat: Hobbes.* RoguesGallery: Calvin imagines many of the people he knows as Stupendous Man's enemies: Susie becomes Annoying Girl, Miss Wormwood is the Crab Teacher, Rosalyn mutates into Baby Sitter Girl, and Calvin's Mom is his ArchEnemy [[ADogNamedDog Mom-Lady]].* {{Rule 34}}: It's the example given in the common image illustrating the concept. And, yes, there really is. Badly drawn, to boot.** [[UpToEleven Even worse, there's Rule34 of the image used to illustrate Rule 34 using Calvin and Hobbes]].* RuleOfFunny: There's no justification in-universe for Calvin's SesquipedalianLoquaciousness or freakish intelligence in general, Hobbes' MaybeMagicMaybeMundane nature is never explained, and his classroom curriculum spans the entire elementary school in difficulty. But so what?** Certain aspects of Calvin's personality are inconsistent. In particular, in some strips he only wants to play outside, while in others he can't imagine doing anything but watching TV, usually dependent on which one his parents [[ConflictBall least want him to do]], or just for an opportunity to mock television.* RunningGag: ''Many''. The Transmogrifier, the bicycle, the NoodleIncident, Calvin's "snow art," and the recurring bedtime story ''Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie'', to name a few.** The ''Hamster Huey'' gag is played on when his dad snaps from being forced to read it ''[[RantInducingSlight every single night]]'' and instead gives them a [[DarkerAndEdgier new take]] on the story.-->''(Calvin and Hobbes lying in bed, eyes wide open)''\\'''Calvin:''' Wow, the story was different ''this'' time.\\'''Hobbes:''' Do you think the townsfolk will ever find [[DerailedFairyTale Hamster Huey's head?]]** Other notable running gags include Calvin's annual struggle to be "good" enough in December to avoid the wrath of Santa, Calvin being ambushed by Hobbes at moments when he least expects it, and of course Calvin's alter egos.** Calvin's hatred of baths and his tendency to hide or throw tantrums at bath time.** Does Calvin's fictitious flamethrower count?** Calvin performing various incantations and rituals that he hopes will bring snow.** Additionally, a good number of running gags revolve around Calvin's dad:*** Calvin's political polls on his dad.*** Dad's camping trips, that always make Mom and Calvin miserable.*** Calvin asking his dad a question, and Dad responding with an elaborate answer that is complete nonsense. For example, why do you close your eyes when you sneeze? Because otherwise the force of the explosion would blow your eyeballs out of their sockets, they'd dangle on your face by the optic nerve, and you'd have to aim them with your hands when you want to look at something.*** Calvin grossing Susie out at the school lunch table:-->'''Calvin''': Processed lunch meat is pretty scary. What are those little specks anyway? Lizard parts? Who knows? And this "skin." I heard it used to be made of intestine, but I think nowadays it's plastic. Of course, they dye and wax fruit so it looks better. It's like eating a candle. Yep, we'd probably be dead now if it wasn't for Twinkies.-->'''Susie''': And Mom wonders why I'm so hungry after school.** Calvin annoying his parents to the point where they kick him out of the house (literally.)[[/folder]]

[[folder: S-T]]* SadistTeacher: Calvin sees Miss Wormwood as being one of these. In truth, Miss Wormwood is probably a decent teacher, she's just too boring for a hyperactive kid like Calvin, which of course is what makes her classes so hard for him to sit through. Kids like Susie who study hard have no problem with her. As Bill Watterson puts it, she seriously believes in the value of a good education, so needless to say, she's an unhappy person when she has to put up with the likes of Calvin.-->'''Calvin''': I want a high-paying job when I get out of here! I want opportunity!-->'''Miss Wormwood''': In that case, young man, I suggest you start working harder. What you get out of school depends on what you put into it.-->'''Calvin''': Oh... Then forget it.* SanityBall: When Calvin and Hobbes are interacting, Hobbes has the ball. When Calvin's parents, Miss Wormwood, or Rosalyn enter the scene, overly imaginative Calvin usually has the ball. When it's just Calvin's mom and dad, [[WomenAreWiser Mom has the ball]]. When Susie shows up, Calvin's typical reaction is throwing the SanityBall at her and running away.* SarcasmBlind: Calvin can't detect sarcasm sometimes.-->'''Calvin''': This whole business of Santa rewarding ''good'' kids and neglecting ''bad'' kids really bugs me... Not that I have anything to worry about.-->'''Hobbes''': A paragon of virtue, that's you.* SarcasticDevotee: Hobbes.* SayingTooMuch: Calvin accidentally makes his mother aware of the NoodleIncident when he panics and tries to explain what Miss Wormwood told her at the parent-teacher meeting.* ScaleModelDestruction: Several times Calvin makes sand box communities and then devastates them.** Calvin gets frustrated trying to build a model airplane and smashes it to shrapnel with a hammer. Then he tells Hobbes that the plane "got hit by anti-aircraft guns."-->'''Hobbes:''' Your planes do tend to run into those, don't they?* {{Scandalgate}}: In one strip, where Calvin pretends that his dad is an elected official, he mentions major scandals during his dad's administration, such as "Bedtimegate" and "Homeworkgate."* SceneryPorn: The Spaceman Spiff segues often include [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal amazing arid alien]] landscapes. Bill Watterson admits that he didn't make them up on his own, but they're illustrations of the desert scenery of the United States, which he figures are as wonderfully alien a landscape as Mars.** Also subverted in a strip where Calvin is WatchingTheSunset, there is a great panoramic drawing of the scene, and he's complaining about the shows he's missing.** The strips featuring Calvin's wagon typically exploit the liberty of the Sunday strip to give us some great visuals of the hilly forest, while Calvin and Hobbes discuss some philosophical matter.* ScrabbleBabble:-->'''Calvin:''' Ha! I've got a great word and it's on a "Double word score" box!\\'''Hobbes:''' "ZQFMGB" isn't a word! It doesn't even have a vowel!\\'''Calvin:''' It is ''so'' a word! It's a worm found in New Guinea! Everyone knows that!\\'''Hobbes:''' I'm looking it up.\\'''Calvin:''' You do that, and I'll look up that 12-letter word ''you'' played with all the Xs and Js!\\'''Hobbes:''' ...What's your score for ZQFMGB?\\'''Calvin:''' [[RuleOfFunny 957.]]* TheScream: Calvin, for five panels, upon learning Rosalyn is coming over.-->'''Mom:''' Take a breath before you pass out on the floor!** Calvin again, out of fear, as his dad attempts to teach him to ride a bike:-->'''Dad:''' Think about how impressed your friends will be! Think about how much fun you'll have! ...Think about inhaling.** Spaceman Spiff, faced with the ultimate weapon of interrogation: a '''calm discussion of wholesome principles'''!* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: In [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1990/04/02 this strip]], Calvin decides to go into Stupendous Man mode while Rosalyn is babysitting him. Hobbes leaves and comments "I'm going to get in bed now and avoid the rush."* TheScrooge: Calvin's dad is a penny-pincher, particularly when it comes to heating the house. Once, when Calvin asks him to turn the heat up, he instead tells Calvin to go and stand outside for a few minutes so when he comes back in it will seem warm by comparison.-->'''Calvin (from outside):''' I'm telling the newspapers about you, dad!* SecondPlaceIsForLosers: This is Calvin's attitude in regards to the school safety poster contest. His "Be careful or be roadkill!" poster loses out (for obvious reasons) to Susie's entry, leading him to rant to both Hobbes and his dad about this.* SecurityCling: UpToEleven after Hobbes [[JumpScare feigns a lethal pounce on Calvin]], scaring him half to death. Calvin holds onto Mom so tight that it looks like he's attached to her with velcro. His parents think the little guy is scared out of his mind because of the comic book he was reading at the time (bonus -- Hobbes, in "stuffed animal" form, is in pounce position in the last panel, just as he would be in "real tiger" form.)* SelfImposedChallenge; Provides the page quote, despite it not being a video game:-->'''Calvin ([[TemptingFate cracking an egg above the stove with only one eye open]]):''' The secret to making life fun is making little challenges for yourself.\\'''Hobbes''': Like the challenge of explaining the stove and floor to your mom?\\'''Calvin''': Rats. See if there's another carton in the fridge, willya?* SeriousBusiness: Chewing gum, which has as many as 12 consumer magazines dedicated to it.* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness; Frequent, such as to mess with Moe (see also StealthInsult). For just one example:-->'''Moe:''' Gimme a quarter, Twinky.\\'''Calvin:''' Your simian countenance suggests a heritage unusually rich in species diversity.\\'''Moe:''' What?\\'''Calvin:''' Here you go. (''tosses him a quarter'') That was worth 25 cents.** Also (this is an earlier strip -- from Moe's first appearance, in fact):-->'''Calvin:''' Moe, I was wondering something. Are your maladjusted antisocial tendencies the product of your berserk pituitary gland?\\''(BeatPanel)''\\'''Moe:''' What?\\'''Calvin:''' (''looks out to the FourthWall'') Isn't he great, folks? Let's give him a big hand!* SeveredHeadSports: Calvin builds a snowman that plays ten-pin bowling with another snowman's head.* ShapeShifterShowdown: Calvin and Hobbes using the Transmogrifying Gun on each other.* ShiftingTheBurdenOfProof: When the NoodleIncident is brought up, Calvin's usual response is "Nobody can prove that was me!"* ShootTheMessenger: Lampshaded by Calvin when he is sent to the principal's office for shouting "BORING!" at one of Miss Wormwood's lectures.* ShoutOut: In the tenth anniversary book, Watterson notes that Miss Wormwood is named after the apprentice devil in ''Literature/TheScrewtapeLetters''. He also comments on naming his leads after theologian John Calvin and philosopher Thomas Hobbes.** In an early Sunday strip when Calvin and his parents went to an art museum, in one panel, his parents are admiring a ''ComicStrip/KrazyKat'' landscape.** Hobbes once does Calvin's hair for school picture day. Calvin keeps asking him how it looks and Hobbes finally tells him that he looks like ''Manga/AstroBoy''. Upon hearing that, Calvin exclaims that he can't wait to get his picture taken.** One Spaceman Spiff strip has him finding a planet with a city and civilization that are the size of ants, likely an ode to the ''Series/TwilightZone'' episode "The Little People".** In an arc in which Calvin gets turned into an owl with his transmogrifier gun, when he realizes that owls don't have to go to school, he starts singing the "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" song from ''Disney/SongOfTheSouth''.** Another Disney tribute: "[[{{Disney/Pinocchio}} When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true]]... I WISH I HAD A COOL MILLION DOLLARS, RIGHT NOW!... If Jiminy Cricket was here, I'd skoosh him."** One comic had Calvin wearing a cape and shouting "[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Up, up, and away!]]" in an attempt to fly. After he crashes he shouts "Ack! Kryptonite!"** There was also a Sunday strip where Stupendous Man [[Film/SupermanTheMovie reversed time by spinning the earth backwards]].** When Calvin and Hobbes imagine superheroes going after mundane supervillains, they imagine one attending council meetings and sending letters to the editor. Hobbes then exclaims "[[Franchise/{{Batman}} Quick! To the Bat-Fax!]]"** In one strip Calvin claimed he was attacked by space aliens that looked like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sontaran "baked potatoes with ray guns."]]** After one of Calvin's antics, Rosalyn tells him [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedtime_for_Bonzo ''BEDTIME FOR BONZO!"]]** When asked by Miss Wormwood the location of the Byzantine empire, Calvin replies "[[Series/{{Jeopardy}} I'll take Outer Planets for $100.]]"** Watterson is apparently a big fan of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nude_Descending_a_Staircase,_No._2 "Nude Descending a Staircase"]], since Calvin tries to replicate it twice in two different mediums (snow sculpture and [[NakedPeopleAreFunny live-action]].)** One on occasion, Calvin calls Rosalyn [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creature_from_the_Black_Lagoon "The Babysitter from the Black Lagoon."]]** [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny]] have been featured among the TV shows Calvin watches, judging by the dialogue coming from the TV.** Calvin describes his onion costume as [[Franchise/StarWars Jabba the Hutt]] meets WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer.* ShrunkenHead; Calvin has an interest in them:** [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2013/07/07 Among the ingredients]] Calvin's mom uses to make dinner, [[UnreliableNarrator or so he thinks]].** He also makes [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2014/01/25 snow scupltures]] of them.** "[[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2012/06/30 A hundred shrunken heads of popular cartoon characters]]."-->'''Mom''': Eww, [[MouthStitchedShut you stitched their mouths shut]]?* SickeninglySweethearts: Susie attempts to enforce this when she and Calvin play house. Calvin's not having it.* SilenceIsGolden: Watterson said that the change to his SundayStrip format allowed him to further explore the ability to tell a story without dialogue.* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: For a story about [[ABoyAndHisX a boy and his tiger friend]], which sounds like something that could be [[TastesLikeDiabetes horribly saccharine]], it's ''very'' close to the middle. The world is full of wonders, but it's also unfair and sometimes cruel.* SmiteMeOMightySmiter: Calvin's religion, so much as he can be said to have one, is Santa Claus. He's been known to beg forgiveness at the sky when threatened with the "Naughty" list, though his arguments boil down to half-truths and legalese.** He also attempted to overpower ''bad weather'' with the sheer force of his words. Twice.-->"It's man against the elements! Conscious being versus insentient nature! My wits against your force! WE'LL see who triumphs!"* SneezeOfDoom:** Done in one strip, where Calvin sneezes so hard that he ''launches himself into space'', and then sends himself back with another sneeze.** There's also this one strip where Calvin's head [[YourHeadASplode explodes]] from a particularly violent sneeze. Turns out, he was pretending.* SnowballFight: A recurring trope, most often Calvin vs. Hobbes or Susie.* {{Snowlems}}: The Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons.* TheSociopath: Calvin sometimes feels like he may harbor such tendencies -- see BlackComedy, above, as well as his casual discussion of the physical harm he plans to cause Susie via his individually crafted snowballs.* SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass: Stupendous Man uses a giant magnifying glass from an observatory telescope in order to fry Calvin's school off the map. Calvin's mom doesn't believe him when he says that the school got fried, and still makes him do his math homework.* SophisticatedAsHell: Calvin is a soft-PG example.* SoundDefect: "Scientific progress goes 'boink'?"* SpellMyNameWithAnS: A rare non-translation example. It's Susie, ''not'' Suzie.* SpiritualSuccessor: Some readers have remarked that the current comic ''ComicStrip/{{Frazz}}'' features a main character that looks and talks like a grown up Calvin would. In online chats the creator admitted to the similarities, but said that they were unintentional, although Watterson was a huge influence on his work.* SpontaneousHumanCombustion: {{Discussed}} in one strip, which has Calvin ask his dad whether this ever happens. When he says no, Calvin bursts a blown-up paper bag around the corner, asking whether he was fooled.* SpoofAesop: All over the place. The lesson Calvin learned about the snow goon incident was "Snow goons are bad news."* SquirrelsInMyPants: Subverted: Calvin actually had a hole in his pocket that some pennies dropped through.* StableTimeLoop: Shamelessly subverted: Calvin goes two hours forward to try to get an essay that he should have written assuming that he got it done, only to discover that his future self did the same thing two hours ago to no avail. Rather than giving up, they then decide to go back in time with the intention of beating up Calvin's self from somewhere in the middle for the same reason. While all this is worked out, past and future Hobbes both write a story about the whole time travel debacle, and it gets an A+.* StarfishAliens: With Calvin's imagination? You bet. A lot of his aliens end up having rather human personalities, though.* StealthInsult; Hobbes gets in a lot of these. One example, from a strip where Calvin made wings for himself out of construction paper:-->'''Hobbes:''' If paper feathers are all it takes to fly, don't you think we'd have heard about it before?\\'''Calvin:''' It takes an uncommon mind to think of these things, Hobbes.\\'''Hobbes:''' I'd agree with that.** And a more blatant example, after Calvin [[LiteralMetaphor cannot find the marbles he'd been playing with]]:-->'''Calvin:''' I've lost my marbles.\\'''Hobbes:''' [with a huge grin] Everyone suspected as much.\\'''Calvin:''' Well, I hope somebody finds them, then.\\''(Cut to nighttime, when both are in bed and the [[LateToThePunchline realization suddenly dawns on Calvin]])''\\'''Calvin:''' ''[angrily]'' HEY!** The same joke, substituting an incomplete set of playing cards for marbles, is used in the next strip:-->'''Calvin:''' "I'm not playing with a full deck!"* StopCopyingMe: A few examples. When Calvin does it to Hobbes, he is stopped by Hobbes quoting from an incomprehensible philosophy text. (But first he tries insulting himself, and Calvin answers, "At least you have the courage to admit it.)** When Calvin does it to his dad, his dad stops him by saying, "I forfeit all my desserts for a week." So Calvin accepts his dad's "forfeited" desserts.* StoryArc: One of the regular features of the strip, to the point where there were probably more of them during its run than there were one-shot gags.* StrawNihilist: Calvin has some moments like this: "The problem with people is that they don't look at the big picture. Eventually, we're each going to die, our species will go extinct, the Sun will explode, and the Universe will collapse. Existence isn't only temporary, it's pointless! We're all doomed, and worse, nothing matters!" Of course, he's using this as an excuse to not do his homework.** Hobbes can usually be counted on to issue a retort to these grumblings:-->'''Calvin:''' [[CessationOfExistence Suppose there's no afterlife.]] Suppose this life is all you get.-->{{Beat}} as Hobbes looks around.-->'''Hobbes:''' Oh, what the heck. I'll take it anyway.* SuckinessIsPainful: At least in Calvin's mind, in which his parents' cooking is portrayed as inedible sludge at best and small-scale {{Eldritch Abomination}}s at worst.* SundayStrip: After doing normal Sunday strips for the first few years of the series ("normal" meaning in this case that they were designed so that the first two or three panels could be left off at the discretion of individual page editors without changing too much,) Watterson negotiated the right to lay out his Sunday strips however he wanted. This resulted in unique strips, such as some with only three panels (an inset in the top left, the joke itself as a panorama, and a small punchline in the bottom right, like the "Tyrannosaurs in F-14s" strip mentioned above and some strips with dozens of panels.* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Calvin, on numerous occasions.* SuperheroesWearCapes:** ''Calvin and Hobbes'' presents: "'''''[[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/06/04 This]]''''' is a job for..."** Outside of the above example, one of Calvin's alter-egos, Stupendous Man, also wears a cape.* SymbolSwearing* TakeOurWordForIt: Calvin's favorite bedtime story, "Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie." As Bill Watterson explains in the comic's 10th anniversary book, "Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooie (like the NoodleIncident I've referred to in several strips) is left to the reader's imagination, where it's sure to be more outrageous."** And taken to another level where Calvin's father is frustrated with Calvin wanting to hear the story every night despite having heard it enough to have the whole thing memorized, so he changes it a bit. The only clue we get is a terrified Hobbes asking Calvin "Do you think the townspeople will ever find Hamster Huey's head?"** Maybe inspired by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_i_Lönneberga Emil]], who's Calvin a hundred years earlier, and has been involved in one incident the narrator repeatedly informs us he or she "Has promised the parents not to talk about."* TakeThat: Bill Watterson has used ''Calvin and Hobbes'' to mock modern art, art criticism, and superhero comic books. Either Calvin uses phrases copied verbatim from art journals to describe his snow men, or his breathless praises of comic books as an art form are interrupted by comments like: "Oh no, Captain Steroid's getting his kidneys punched out with an I-beam!" Watterson's career peaked during [[TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks the Dark Age of western comics]], which likely influenced his opinions quite a bit, but as to why he didn't seek out fellow "comics can be art" proponents such as Creator/DaveSim and Creator/ScottMcCloud and join up with the Graphic Novel movement is a mystery.** Watterson directed a few Take Thats at ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' creator Creator/JimDavis over the years. In a rare 1987 interview, he harshly condemned Davis' comic strip ''ComicStrip/USAcres'', calling it stupid and badly done. In ''The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book'', Watterson extensively discusses why he hates merchandising, and how it robs a comic strip of its heart and soul. He even writes about how a cartoonist risks becoming a "factory foreman," remarking on how he went into cartooning "to draw cartoons, not to run a corporate empire." He disgustedly remarks on how he would have sold out his own creation if he'd done this. Given the context, it was pretty clear who he was talking about. Granted, since Jim Davis stated that he created Garfield for the purpose of making money, and probably didn't intend there to be much of that deeper significance in which Watterson puts so much stock, it's unlikely that Watterson would have liked it anyway.** Bill Watterson's foreword to Creator/BillAmend's first ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' book is an extended take that against Jim Davis. For example, Watterson champions Quincy the Iguana for not thinking "the cute thoughts that quickly get most comic strip animals in the greeting card business."** Watterson had Calvin reading from ''Chewing'', a magazine that rated chewing gums in excruciating detail (e.g., "[T]he top five brands of chewing gum based on flavor retention, elasticity, bubble capacity, and chewing rebound,") offered advice for chewing it, and otherwise was a spot-on parody of ''every'' review mag. Specifically, Watterson based ''Chewing'' off a lot of bicycling magazines he'd read.** Watterson made several strips with subtle jabs at his editors and the syndication people.** There is a Take That related to ''Calvin and Hobbes'', although not in the strip itself. For strips in ComicStrip/BloomCounty that parodied cartoon cats that featured characters such as ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} and Hobbes, Bill Watterson retaliated hilariously with [[http://ignatz.brinkster.net/cimages/cbreathedsketch.jpg this comic]]. In response Creator/BerkeleyBreathed said this:--> "I have committed other thefts with a clean and unfettered conscience. ''Garfield'' was too calculated and too successful not to freely raid for illicit character cameos. ''Calvin and Hobbes'' was too good not to. ''Calvin'' creator Bill Watterson took these thefts in stride and retaliated in private with devastatingly effective illustrated salvos, hitting me in my most vulnerable places. Bill's sketch is an editorial comment on my addiction to the expensive sport of power boating and the moral compromises needed to fund it. That's me doing the kicking. The chap on the dock represents my cartoon syndicate boss, which says it all, methinks."** In one comic Calvin talks about wanting to be a talk radio host. It ends with him saying "Imagine getting ''paid'' to act like a six-year-old!" The strip in question was published in 1994, right around when Radio/RushLimbaugh was first beginning to attract a wide audience.** Watterson has very choice words about his disdain for "graphic novels" in the collection books. Given what Watterson says about the term "graphic novel" in the Tenth Anniversary Book, it's possible he had a very cynical viewpoint of the term and had his impressions of comic books too colored by the contemporary examples he had in front of him to listen to anyone talking about it being a legitimate art form.** Watterson makes it clear in the collection books that the appeal of sports is completely lost on him, which is also best summed up by the cruel treatment Calvin goes through during the baseball arc.* TalkingHeads: in one strip, Watterson complains about the prevalence of this in NewspaperComics. (Because it's Watterson, the [[LampshadeHanging strip's art is identical in all four panels]], and the character who brings it up is Calvin's curmudgeonly [[TheGhost grandfather]].)* TalkingIsAFreeAction: All of Calvin's fantasies are narrated by himself out loud and no-one else in them notice or care.* TeachersOutOfSchool: At one point Calvin's mom mentions seeing his teacher Ms. Wormwood at the supermarket. Calvin remarks that he just kind of assumed that teachers slept in coffins all summer.* TechnicallyASmile: [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/12/16 Calvin does a grotesquely awful/hilarious one for a photograph.]]* TellHimImNotSpeakingToHim: Calvin's mother drifts into this following a terrible camping holiday.-->'''Calvin's Mother''': Calvin, tell your father that any judge would take this trip as grounds for divorce.\\'''Calvin''': Dad, Mom says...* ThatCloudLooksLike: Calvin once saw a cloud that looked like himself sticking his tongue out. Another time, he saw one that did an "impression" of a duck.** In yet another strip, Susie asks Calvin what a cloud looks like to him. He replies, "[[LiteralMinded a bunch of suspended water and ice particles]]."* ThatsNoMoon: Used in the Spaceman Spiff stories.* ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight: Calvin often has to battle with the monsters under his bed.* ThirdPersonPerson: Most of Calvin's alter-egos would narrate their own adventures in the third person (and in present tense,) Tracer Bullet [[PrivateEyeMonologue being the exception]].** "Also, Calvin the Bold will now refer to himself in the third person."* TickertapeParade: In one comic, Calvin has an ImagineSpot where he's thrown a tickertape parade for getting an A.* TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace: All of the 'time-travel' arcs.* TitleDrop: Inverted. The collections were named after quotes from the strips (like "Revenge of the Baby Sat" and "Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink.'")* TitleTheAdaptation: Calvin is given a homework assignment in which he has to write a paragraph on what his father does. He titles it "Dad: The Paragraph."-->"What does my dad do? Mostly he gets on my nerves. The end."* ToiletPaperPrank: Calvin remarks on his dad's enjoyment of Halloween. It turns out he likes to "sit in the bushes with the hose and drench potential tp'ers."* TooDumbToLive: Day after day, Calvin would announce his return from school at the front door with a loud [[CatchPhrase "I'M HO-OME!"]] ...Only to realize too late (if he remembered at all) that this was ''always'' the signal for Hobbes to violently pounce on him. (The few times he tried to [[WrongGenreSavvy change the outcome, his plan would either not work or would backfire in a horribly unexpected way]].)** That's light compared to Calvin's other bone-headed stunts. He once tried to fly with construction paper feathers taped to his arms and had Hobbes throw him off a cliff, where he crashed PAINFULLY. Next he jumped out of his bedroom window using a bed sheet as a make-shift parachute thinking he'll float down. He doesn't, and falls like a rock, right onto ROSE BUSHES.* ToServeMan:** Spaceman Spiff sometimes views aliens as this. One time he finds out that a certain planet's [[BlandNameProduct McZargald's]] has served over 75 million Earthlingburgers.** "Goldilocks and the Three Tigers."-->'''Dad''' (reading Hobbes' story): "The tigers quickly divided Goldilocks into big, medium, and small pieces and dunked them in the porridge--" I'm not finishing this, it's disgusting! ''Good night!''-->'''Calvin''': He didn't even look at our illustrations.-->'''Hobbes''': Now I'm all hungry.* TotemPoleTrench: They try this to sneak into a movie theater on their own. With Hobbes as the head, leading the ticket lady to say "This is a new one."* ToTheBatnoun: In a memorable strip, Calvin wonders out loud why his heroes don't fight realistic villains. Hobbes suggests that the fights would involve writing letters to the editor and so forth. As Calvin says that he sees the problem, Hobbes ends the strip with the line "Quick! To the Bat-Fax!"* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Hobbes loves tuna [[note]]salmon in later strips[[/note]], Calvin likes ''Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs''.* TrailerParkTornadoMagnet: In one strip where Calvin pretends to be a tornado while messing up his room, the narration reads "The twister searches for a trailer park! Finding one, it touches down!"* TransformationRay: The various Transmogrifiers.* TreeCover: Calvin does this a lot, mostly to Susie.* TreehouseOfFun: Calvin and Hobbes hold their G.R.O.S.S. meetings in one.* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: [[invoked]]** One strip about "high" art versus "low" art is a logic train that borders on insanity.** Watterson mentions that he once read an art book that was so packed with postmodern gibberish that he started underlining passages for later use.** In-universe, Calvin himself sometimes applies this approach to his snow sculptures.* TruthInTelevision: [[http://www.typelogic.com/infp.html INFP]] personalities tend to be described as Calvin.-->INFP children often exhibit this in a 'Calvin and Hobbes' fashion, switching from reality to fantasy and back again. With few exceptions, it is the NF child who readily develops imaginary playmates...* {{Tsundere}}: WordOfGod attributes traits consistent with the two major subtypes to Calvin (tsun-tsun type) and Susie (dere-dere type.)[[/folder]]

[[folder: U-Z]]* UnnamedParent: Calvin's parents are just Mom and Dad, or "dear" to each other. WordOfGod says they have no names, because "as far as the strip is concerned, they are important simply as Calvin's mom and dad." This results in a near-total lack of "on-screen" relatives for Calvin (save one Uncle Max,) since they could never address Calvin's parents by name.** As the strip went on Watterson broke his own rule, and fleshed Calvin's parents out more and more, sometimes writing strips where Calvin and Hobbes don't appear at all. See ADayInTheLimelight.* UnreliableNarrator: Calvin usually portrays himself as being a victim when there are times he's not, PlayedForLaughs. It's possible that the FreeRangeChildren is a case of this; even though Calvin appears to live behind a forest, it looks practically like a national park.* UnsoundEffect: Calvin's galoshes going "galosh galosh galosh," for one, which causes him to [[LampshadeHanging stop and look up in confusion]].** Inverted in another strip, where he and Hobbes go spelunking... That is, heaving rocks into a pond so they go "spelunk!"* UnusualEuphemism: Calvin's dad, after dropping a Christmas present on his foot: "Slippin'-rippin'-dang-fang-rotten-zarg-barg-a-ding-dong!" However, this may be TranslationConvention from genuine swearing.** Spaceman Spiff talks like a B-movie hero. "Zounds!"** "Zounds" is actually a 16th century curse word, abbreviated from "God's wounds!" Much like saying "holy cow" instead of taking the Lord's name in vain, it was a curse that was changed to a less blasphemously offensive form.* VerbThis: In one of Calvin's comics, in response to a character's assertion that he is merely toying with her, Amazon Girl yells: "Toy with this!" and uses a hyper-phase distortion blaster to blast a spine-shattering hole through his torso.* ViewersAreGeniuses: Though there's quite enough childish humor to balance it out.* AVillainNamedZrg: Evil aliens encountered by Spaceman Spiff include [[http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Zorg Zorgs]], [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/04/10 Zargs]], [[http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Zorkon Zorkons]], [[http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Zogwarg Zogwargs]], and [[http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Zog Zogs]].* VisualPun: In one strip, Calvin and Hobbes toast to their friendship... And then chow down on some toast.* VitriolicBestBuds: Our heroes sometimes come across this way, particularly with the number of fights they get into, the times Hobbes tackles or outright tries to prey on Calvin, the insults they often exchange, and so forth.** Calvin and Susie are also this. Despite their cycle of Calvin being a smart-aleck or trying to pelt her with snowballs and ending with Susie KO'ing him, they still hang out together very often; for instance, when Calvin is forced outside by his dad after watching Saturday morning TV, he immediately goes to Susie's, who happily invites him in.* VolleyingInsults: Very frequently.* VolumetricMouth: Used a fair amount of times, in the vein of the TropeCodifier ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}''.** Watterson even noted this when reviewing a biography of Schultz.* WantingIsBetterThanHaving:** Invoked by Hobbes when Calvin sent away for a motorized propeller beanie. While he restlessly waits the six weeks for the beanie to arrive, Calvin keeps dreaming about how he'll be able to use it to fly around the neighborhood. When it arrives, it turns out to be an ordinary beanie with a propeller.** Another has the pair on one of their dangerous wagon-riding adventures while Calvin argues that having is much better than wanting, and he can't think of anything he would rather have later than right away. Hobbes says: "Death comes to mind" as the wagon careens off a cliff.** In another strip, Calvin muses on the idea that when you get something it's new and exciting, but that when you have something it's old and boring, concluding that it's important to keep getting new things. Hobbes remarks: "I feel like I'm in some advertiser's dream."* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: In the story arc where Calvin pushes his mom's car out of the garage, Hobbes says: "I think ''you're'' mom's going to be bothered."* WarriorPoet: Parodied, as Calvin takes his snowball and water balloon fights [[SeriousBusiness very seriously]]. See quote above at LittleMissSnarker.* WastefulWishing: Subverted. Calvin asks Hobbes what he'd wish for; Hobbes says he wants a sandwich. Calvin doesn't understand why and wishes for enormous wealth. Hobbes gets his wish, and Calvin obviously does not.* WatchingTheSunset: And missing lots of great shows.* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After the story arc in which there is a break-in to Calvin's house, nothing is ever said of it again. Although the family eventually get a new TV to replace the one that was stolen, it's never mentioned if the burglars were caught.* WhenItAllBegan: The very first strips show how Calvin 'caught' Hobbes in a tiger trap baited with tuna fish.* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: We're never told precisely where Calvin and co. reside, but it's presumably an outer suburb (with access to woods, fields, and other more rural areas) near some Midwestern city.** They live in a purple country and their house is right next to the letter "E" in "States."** And an hour and a half's drive away from the coast.** It's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes#Books Chagrin Falls, Ohio]]:-->In ''The Essential Calvin and Hobbes'', which includes cartoons from the collections ''Calvin and Hobbes'' and ''Something Under the Bed is Drooling'', the back cover features a scene of a giant Calvin rampaging through a town. The scene is based on Watterson's home town of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagrin_Falls,_Ohio Chagrin Falls, Ohio]], and Calvin is holding [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagrin_Falls_Popcorn_Shop the Chagrin Falls Popcorn Shop]], an iconic candy and ice cream shop overlooking the town's namesake falls.** One strip showed a news van from UsefulNotes/{{Cleveland}}'s [[http://www.wkyc.com/ Channel 3 News]], complete with logo.* WhereWhere: In [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1986/05/20 this strip]].* WhoAreYouCallingNames: In one story arc, when Calvin confronts his own good-natured duplicate after the latter tries winning Susie's love:-->'''Calvin''': '''''There''''' you are!\\'''"Good" Calvin''': There '''''you''''' are!\\'''Calvin''': What's the big idea giving Susie a mushy Valentine?! Are you ''nuts''?!?\\'''"Good" Calvin''': She wouldn't even accept it! You're such a jerk, she always thinks you're up to something!\\'''Calvin''': Who are you calling a jerk, you namby-pamby goody-goody!\\'''"Good" Calvin''': '''''You''''', you self-centered, conniving brat! ''[they fight each other]''\\'''Hobbes''': ''[looks at the fourth wall]'' Wow, how existential can you get?* WilliamTelling: In one strip where Calvin tries to knock a snowball off a snowman's head. (He accuses the snowman of flinching when he misses.)* WishFulfillment: If looked at in a certain context (and taking note of the ''numerous'' clues sprinkled throughout,) the strip is Bill Watterson wishing he was still a kid growing up in the Sixties.* AWizardDidIt: Invoked by Calvin's dad when Calvin is curious about how vacuum cleaners and lightbulbs work; Dad tells him, "They're both magic." Calvin is unconvinced and replies, "You just don't KNOW how they work, I'll bet."* WomenAreWiser:** Susie includes this in her imaginings of what adult married life would be like. Then again, she imagines herself married to [[{{Manchild}} Calvin]], [[ParentingTheHusband so...]]** Calvin's mom is also this, especially when dealing with her husband's obsessions such as camping and biking. However, the relationship between Calvin's parents is completely (and hilariously) inverted in one strip where Calvin leaves Hobbes in the woods:-->'''Calvin's Mom''': Any luck?-->'''Calvin's Dad''': Of course not! How am I going to find a stuffed tiger in the woods at night? Why can't Calvin keep track of his toys? I must be crazy to be out here...-->'''Calvin's Mom''': ''(calling out loud)'' [[SayMyName HO-O-O-BBES!]]-->''(realizing what she just did, with an extremely embarrassed look on her face)''-->'''Calvin's Mom''': Oops. Heh heh.-->'''Calvin's Dad''': I may be crazy, but I'm not as crazy as you.* WordSaladHumor: The September 1, 1992 strip:-->'''Calvin:''' Hey Dad. Know what I figured out? The meaning of words isn't a fixed thing! Any word can mean anything! By giving words new meanings, ordinary English can become an exclusionary code! Two generations can be divided by the same language! To that end, I'll be inventing new definitions for common words, so we'll be unable to communicate. Don't you think that's totally spam? It's lubricated! Well, I'm phasing.-->'''Father:''' (Making the peace sign) Marvy. Fab. Far out.** "Explain Newton's First Law of Motion in your own words." "Yakka foob mog. Grug pubbawup zink wattoom gazork. Chumble spuzz."* TheWorfBarrage: As Spaceman Spiff, Calvin's RayGun is never effective as a weapon, because the people he's imagining are monsters aren't playing along. At best, he has a water pistol in reality, and manages to annoy his "foe."* WorldOfSnark: Nearly every main character has many sarcastic moments, though some of them more so than others.* WorldsShortestBook:-->'''Calvin''': On today's agenda, we'll make a list of what girls are ''good'' for. Obviously this will be a short meeting!* WoundedGazelleGambit; Susie pulls this on Calvin after he hits her with a snowball:-->'''Calvin''': Ha ha! I gotcha, you dumb girl!!-->'''Susie''': AUGHH! MY EYEBALL! WHERE'S MY EYEBALL?!-->'''Calvin''': What are you talking about? I hit you in the back.-->'''Susie''': It knocked my eyeball out! Find it and pack it in snow so they can save it! Ow! Ow!-->'''Calvin''': ''(bends over to look for it)'' Gosh, did you really lose your eyeball? I didn't know they came out! Wow. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to knock it out. Can I see the socket? Boy, where do you suppose it rolled.-->'''Susie''': ''(kicking him in the backside)'' SOMEWHERE OVER THERE, POOP HEAD!!* WritersCannotDoMath: Hobbes cites a statistic that claims that by the age of six, the average child has seen a million murders on television. That's over 456 per day.** That could just as easily be Hobbes being bad at math or [[LiesDamnLiesAndStatistics making up a statistic]].* WriteWhatYouKnow:[[invoked]] In-universe, this is the reason Calvin gives a bemused Hobbes for his attempt to use "man who flicks through channels with a remote control" as a {{trope}} in a story he writes.* YesVirginia: Defied. An early strip actually depicts Calvin's parents setting out presents for him on Christmas. Some ImagineSpot[=s=] depict Santa Claus, but there is never any proof given that Santa Claus might be real.** There was that time Santa Claus watched him from the North Pole while deciding whether he was "good" or not but wasn't proof to Calvin since he obviously didn't know about it. Calvin even [[LampshadeHanging hung a lampshade]] on it once by asking why Santa doesn't just reveal himself, and even [[HaveYouSeenMyGod compares it to God]].[[/folder]]----